"Worried Turkey Keeps Close Watch
Aaron Glantz
ARBIL, Northern Iraq, Jan 29 (IPS) - The afternoon call to prayer sounds on the final Friday before election on Sunday, and thousands of Kurds across Northern Iraq file into their mosques. At each one of them, imams appointed by the ruling Kurdish factions give the same message: go out and vote.
�Vote, vote, and vote for all the martyrs who helped you get your freedom,� a middle aged imam preaches in Quritan, a small town southwest of the regional capital Arbil. �Vote for the people who were killed by Saddam in al-Anfal. This election is our chance to win our freedom.�
In the afternoon after the sermons are over, Arbil too is in full election mode. The red, green, and white Kurdish national flag is everywhere. Half the cars fly the flag, and it is draped over government buildings. Speakers at street corners blare out the same message. �Hurry, hurry, get ready to vote for the Kurdistan list.�
Across the border, Turkish leaders have been listening to these voices carefully. "
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