Iraqi Assyrians wrapped up a three-day meeting in İstanbul yesterday with a statement opposing Kurdish attempts to establish control over the ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk.

In a statement released after the meeting, the Assyrians said Kirkuk was part of Iraq, not of the Kurdish region.

"The Kurdish region is not as big as claimed (by Kurds)," said group member Barem Behram. "If you look at the history, you will see that Assyrians were populating the area that is claimed to be the Kurdish region today."

Iraqi Assyrians discussed the overall situation in Iraq during their three-day meeting at the Conrad Hotel in İstanbul. The meeting was originally planned to be held in Baghdad, but the plans had to be changed after participants from other countries were denied entry visas by Iraqi authorities. The meeting was attended by some 43 participants, 17 of whom were from Iraq. The participants included US, Australian and German citizens.

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