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Kurdish rebels defiant in northern Iraq
mountains
18.11.2006 |
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KURTAK,
Kurdistan-Iraq, November 17, -- High in the
mountains of northern Iraq, fighters of the
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) voiced defiance Friday
over threats by Iraqi and Turkish officials to root
them out of their rear bases.
In the latest of many warnings, Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Iraqi
counterpart Nuri al-Maliki Thursday that Turkey was
unwilling any longer to tolerate the presence just
across the border of an organization which has been
fighting its armed forces for the past 22 years.
Deep in the Qandil mountains of northern Iraq's
Kurdish autonomous region, PKK commander Saydo
Hussein Afshin said let them try it.
"No power or country can get us out of the Qandil,"
he said against a stunning backdrop of snow-capped
peaks in the nearly inaccessible region along the
Iranian border.
"Twenty times the Turks have attacked us and they
were never victorious, instead we were the victor."
Around him, dozens of guerrilla fighters armed with
assault rifles, rocket propelled grenade launchers
and light machine guns, worked on preparing the camp
for winter by gathering firewood and insulating
their simple stone huts clinging to the mountain
side.
The PKK are in control of a small pocket of
territory in Iraq's Qandil mountains comprising
around 50 villages where they have both military and
civilian operations.
The group has been fighting a guerrilla war against
the Turkish army since 1984 that has resulted in the
deaths of thousands of civilians caught between
insurgent operations and harsh military reprisals.
Its guerrillas found sanctuary in the late 1980s and
1990s with Kurdish fellow rebels fighting Saddam
Hussein's regime in Iraq and made the region their
principal rear-base after Syria gave in to Turkish
pressure to cut links in 1998.
In 2000, PKK fighters fought months-long battles
with their Iraqi Kurdish counterparts as they carved
out the Qandil enclave they hold to this day.
Afshin said they are dug in deeply in their mountain
fastness and cannot be dislodged.
"For the past 10 years we have made many
preparations and we feel quite safe here," he said.
Turkey has repeatedly threatened to intervene in
northern Iraq militarily if the PKK are not expelled
-- something they did with comparative frequency
before the US-led invasion of 2003.
Under Turkish pressure, Iraq ordered the closure in
September of offices of the PKK-linked party Kurdish
Democratic Solution.
The party's offices in Erbil -- bastion of the
Kurdistan Democratic Party of regional president
Massud Barzani -- have been closed but those in
Sulaimaniyah -- stronghold of the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani --
remain open.
The order for the offices' closure came just days
before the PKK declared yet another unilateral
ceasefire in its war with the Turkish armed forces.
PKK commanders say the ceasefire holds to this day,
even though they continue to come under Turkish
attack.
Maliki told his Turkish counterpart that Iraq would
not host any force that posed a threat to its
neighbour.
"We are not letting them conduct harmful
activities," he said.
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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