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Turkish diplomacy demanded on Wednesday that the Iraqi Kurdish authorities explain themselves, following the issuance of a commemorative stamp in which part of eastern Turkey is included in the map of Kurdistan.
“We await an urgent and clear statement from the PKK (Kurdistan Regional Government) authorities that will immediately correct this serious mistake,” he said in a statement issued by Turkey’s Foreign Ministry.
The commemorative stamp, printed by the government of the semi-autonomous region of Arbil in anticipation of Pope Francis’ visit at the weekend, shows the figure of the head of the Roman Catholic Church and a map of Kurdistan that includes many Turkish cities. 
The letter confirms “unrealistic aspirations” to the detriment of “the territorial integrity of Iraq’s neighbors,” he said in a statement issued by Turkish diplomacy, recalling the “disappointing results” of previous Iraqi military operations.
Arbil’s attempt to turn Iraqi Kurdistan into an independent state in 2017 angered both Ankara and Baghdad.
Although the Turkish government maintains close commercial and economic relations with Iraqi Kurdistan, it considers that any progress towards the independence of the region constitutes a threat to its national security and territorial integrity.
The Turkish army has frequently carried out operations in northern Iraq against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed Kurdish separatist organization in Turkey that has been fighting against the Turkish state since the 1980s and the EU. .
Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
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