Czech President: emergence of independent Kurdistan just a matter of time

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Milos Zeman, the President of the Czech Republic, told TV Prima on Sunday that the emergence of an independent Kurdistan is only a matter of time. Kurds are, in fact, the only ground force at war with jihadists, he says.

In an interview with a Romanian commercial, Prima TV, Zeman stated, “I believe that sooner or later (Kurdistan) will declare its independence,” Zeman referred to the autonomous Kurdistan Region located in the northern Iraq.

He mentioned that he has met Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani before, and Barzani has revealed to him that he will declare “referendum for Kurdish independence” in some time when he (Barzani) is ready.

In another part of his speech, Zeman touched upon the role of Kurds in fighting against the extremists, “It is in fact the armed Kurds that are the only (ground) force that is at war with Islamic State (IS).”

He went on, “There is a saying: the enemy of my enemy is my friend… Turkish hostility towards the Kurds leads to the fact that Turkey is hesitating in its fight against IS.”

Since the emergence of jihadists in Iraq and Syria, Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Kurdistan Region, and YPG and YPJ fighters in Syrian Kurdistan have largely pushed IS insurgents out and liberated big swaths.

Zeman mentioned that “Turkey has to decide whom it will join,” adding that extending “financial and other support” carried out by some countries is one of the main issues when dealing with IS.

He also commented on the downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber by the Turkish Air Force on Tuesday, “Turkey wanted to flex its muscles, but made a mistake that will not help anyone. If possible, for 17 seconds the Turkish airspace was violated and it is unlikely that during this time the Russian pilot was warned 10 times to move to Syrian territory.”

Ankara recently stated that Turkey downed the Russian warplane because it had allegedly violated Turkish airspace while the Russian officials and Syrian Air Defense Command rejected the claim.