Special Report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    ISTANBUL, Turkey, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said Monday here that an independent Kurdish state in Iraq is "impossible," local Sahab daily reported.

    An independent Kurdish state in Iraq was "impossible," said Talabani, who came in the largest Turkish city of Istanbul to attend the 5th World Water Forum which kicked off on Monday morning.

    Turkey, which has a large Kurdish minority and is fighting Kurdish separatist guerrillas, has feared that a Kurdish state in neighboring Iraq would reignite independence in the southeast Turkey.

    The PKK, listed as terrorist group, took up arms in 1984 to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey.

    Turkish warplanes has been striking PKK targets in northern Iraq in the last few months. The Turkish forces take tougher actions against the PKK after the country's legislature extended on Oct. 8, last year, the government's mandate to launch cross-border operations against the rebels in northern Iraq.

    On Sunday evening, Talabani met Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and discussed security issues.