CAIRO, March 31 (UPI) -- Iraqi Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani said the oil-rich center of Kirkuk is as important for Kurds as East Jerusalem is for Arabs and Muslims.
Speaking in an interview with Cairo's mass-circulation daily al-Ahram Wednesday Talabani said: "Kirkuk is a sacred city for Kurds as much as Jerusalem is for Muslim and we have been struggling for it for more than 40 years."
Talabani, whose Patriotic Union of Kurdistan has been sharing control of Iraq's Kurdistan with Massud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party since 1991, said past Iraqi governments were ready to recognize the autonomy of Kurdistan, excluding Kirkuk.
"Historically and demographically speaking, Kirkuk was never part of Iraq but part of Kurdistan," he said.
He said Kurds were not seeking secession from Iraq but want the right of autonomy under a federal system to be recognized.
