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LIJWA, Iraq, (AFP) - On the sidelines of a
Kurdish congress in this northeastern Iraqi village,
young Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants from
the region and Europe are bound together by the
dream of an independent state.
"I will only get married when my people are free,"
said Sara Haldan, expressing the burning hope of
these people who adhere to what has been labelled a
terrorist group by the United States, European Union
and Turkey.
"I decided to join the fighters at the age of 15
after I saw Turks drag my friend to her death behind
an army vehicle. I decided then to abandon my family
and join the guerrillas to fight injustice," Haldan
said.
This young Turkish Kurd has not seen her family in
years for fear of being recognized and arrested by
Turkish authorities.
Kurds, who have sought independence since poet Ahmad
Khani first called for a Kurdish state to fend for
its people in 1695, share a common history, culture
and language across four countries -- Iran, Iraq,
Syria and Turkey.
For the meeting in this village 500 kilometers (300
miles) northeast of Baghdad, the young militants
broke out their traditional shalwar pants,
multicolored shirts and wide belts.
PKK flags, red and yellow with a red star, flapped
in the wind.
Narin, 22, came from Syria and took advantage of a
journalist's presence to denounce problems faced by
Kurdish women.
"Kurdish men fight for their freedom, while Kurdish
women fight for their freedom and their rights," she
said. "We should never give up the armed struggle
before we regain all our rights."
Others who have gathered in Iraq's northern
mountains agree.
"When my family emigrated from Turkey to France I
was 12 years old. I lived there for eight years
before the party called me back to join fighters in
northern Iraq," said 23-year-old Jankiz.
He now trains Kurdish fighters and insists he "wants
to remain in this natural, human landscape until my
dream of a state in these mountains is fulfilled".
An Indo-European people descended in large part from
the Medes and Scythian tribes, Kurds are mainly
Sunni Muslims who have settled across nearly a
half-million square kilometers (200,000 square
miles).
Their total number vary according to official or
Kurdish sources, from 25 to 35 million people, with
between 13 and 19 million living in Turkey.
Iran is home to six to eight million Kurds, Iraq has
four to five million and Syria around 1.5 million.
Large Kurdish communities also exist in the former
Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well
as in European countries like Germany.
The PKK waged a bloody campaign for Kurdish
self-rule in southeastern Turkey between 1984 and
1999 in a conflict that has claimed some 37,000
lives.
Around 5,000 militants are believed to be based in
Turkey and the mountains of northern Iraq.
On Wednesday, the party said it was ready to declare
a ceasefire and offered to begin peace talks with
Ankara.
PKK official Murad Karayilan said the group was now
seeking a "Kurdish democratic federation."
In Iraq, Kurds represent 15 to 20 percent of the
population and were severely persecuted by the
regime of former dictator Saddam Hussein. They have
now become a political force, with Jalal Talabani
becoming in April the first Kurd to assume the
nation's presidency.
AFP
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