ANKARA, April 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul welcomed on Wednesday the election of Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as the new president of Iraq, Turkish private NTV reported.

    Gul, on a visit to the United Arab Emirates, said Talabani was "one of the politicians in Iraq on whom Turkey places the greatest importance."

    "Talabani is an experienced politician," said Gul. "He is someone who values Iraq's integrity. Therefore I ongratulate him."

    Gul dismissed suggestions that Talabani would use his new role to try and strengthen the position of Iraqi Kurds whom Ankara fears may establish an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq.

   "I am confident that everybody's Iraqi identity will be strengthened and the unity of the country will be strengthened.

  The primary objective of the head of state should definitely be to preserve the unity and integrity of his country," said the Turkish foreign minister.

    The Iraqi National Assembly (parliament) on Wednesday chose Talabani as the country's new president for the transitional period.

    Talabani, a liberal politician, has spent his life struggling for the rights of Iraqi Kurds, long oppressed by the previous dictatorship.

    The Kurds, accounting for no more than 20 percent of the national population, achieved a milestone victory in the
parliamentary elections in January, winning more than a quarter of the 275 seats. Enditem