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Turkey jails informer in controversial
bombing
10.11.2006 |
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DIYARBAKIR,
Turkey-Kurdistan, November 10, -- A Kurdish
ex-rebel, who informed for the Turkish army, was
jailed for almost 40 years on Friday for a bombing
that has raised accusations of high-level army
involvement.
The controversial case has focused attention on the
role of the military in Turkey -- which the European
Union would like to see reduced -- and the case was
mentioned in Brussels' latest report on Turkey's
progress towards membership.
Two soldiers have already been sentenced for the
November, 2005 attack on a bookstore in Semdinli
that sparked riots in the mainly Kurdish southeast.
Critics said the security forces may have planned
the attack to stir unrest in the region, which has
suffered separatist violence since 1984.
The court on Friday sentenced informer Veysel Ates,
a former guerrilla from the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK), to 39 years and 11 months in
jail. His term was in line with sentences handed to
the two non-commissioned officers in June for the
attack, in which one person was killed.
Adding to controversy over the case, a public
prosecutor was sacked in April after he accused the
head of Turkey's land forces General Yasar Buyukanit
-- now head of the armed forces -- of organising an
illegal group which planned the bombing.
The prosecutor said the general was trying to foment
unrest and undermine Turkey's EU entry bid -- which
the army has denied. One person was killed in the
attack.
The PKK -- considered a terrorist organisation by
the EU, United States and Turkey -- launched its
campaign for an independent homeland in 1984 and
Ankara blames it for the deaths of more than 30,000
people.
Reuters
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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