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Two Turkish soldiers wounded in first
clash since ceasefire
7.10.2006 |
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ISTANBUL, October
6, -- Two soldiers were wounded in eastern Turkey in
the first clash with Kurdish rebels since the
unilaterial declaration of a ceasefire five days
earlier by the Kurdistan Workers' Party, security
sources said Friday.
The clash took place late Thursday in the remote
region of Ovacik, in Tunceli province, one of main
zones of conflict in the Kurdish rebellion that
started in 1984, the same sources said.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party, blacklisted as a
terrorist group by Ankara and much of the
international community, on Saturday called a
ceasefire following an upsurge in deadly violence.
The announcement followed an appeal by jailed party
leader Abdullah Ocalan for a ceasefire to lay the
ground for "a diplomatic dialogue" in the 22-year
Kurdish conflict, which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan swiftly rejected.
The army, which has been battling the party in
mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey since 1984, has
ignored other ceasefire announcements in the past.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party has fought for Kurdish
self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast since
1984, with the conflict claiming more than 37,000
lives.
AFP
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan".
Others estimate as many as 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan but
unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag is
banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it is
a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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