ASLIK: NYT: Ousting Saddam Hussein will re-awake nationalism among Turkey's Kurds.

(From Turkish Daily News)

'Political gains by Iraq's Kurds could revive Turkish separatism and renew that threat, Turkish officials say. Turkish Kurds dismiss the government's fears, saying they are dedicated to finding a political solution. Yet in time that could well include a federal Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey, a prospect that sends shudders through governing circles in Ankara,' wrote the New York Times.

Influential American newspaper, the New York Times, claimed that ousting Iraqi leader Saddam Husssein frightens Turkish officials in regard of re-awaking Kurdish nationalism among the millions of Kurds in Turkey.

The newspaper wrote that "The virtual autonomy enjoyed by Iraqi Kurds -- thanks to American and British enforcement of a no-flight zone over northern Iraq -- is likely to increase if the government of Saddam Hussein is ousted. Indeed, Iraqi Kurds are asking for a Kurdish administrative district within an Iraqi federation. That, Turkish officials say, would reawaken Kurdish nationalism here, feeding dreams of the same kind of independence for Turkey's estimated 12-20 million Kurds." …