Emergence of Independent Kurdistan Just a Matter of Time - Czech President

The emergence of an independent Kurdistan is only a matter of time, President of the Czech Republic Milos Zeman said on Sunday, speaking on TV Prima.

“I believe that sooner or later (Kurdistan) will declare its independence,” Zeman said.

According to the Czech leader, he met with the President of Iraqi Kurdistan Massoud Barzani, who said that in some time he will be ready to announce a referendum.

In addition, the Czech president mentioned the Turkish fight against the Kurds.

“It is in fact the armed Kurds that are the only (ground) force that is at war with ISIL,” Zeman said.

“There is a saying: the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” the Czech president said. “Turkish hostility towards the Kurds leads to the fact that Turkey is hesitating in its fight against ISIL.”

“Turkey has to decide whom it will join,” Milos Zeman said, adding that one of the problems when dealing with ISIL is the fact that some of the countries extend “financial and other support.”

The president also noted that, “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,” when commenting on the downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber by the Turkish Air Force on Tuesday.

Ankara claimed that it downed the Russian aircraft because it had allegedly violated Turkish airspace. The Russian General Staff and the Syrian Air Defense Command have refuted the claims.