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Turkey blames Kurds for fatal army
helicopter crash
9.12.2006 |
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ANKARA, December
8, -- Turkey's army command Friday blamed Kurdish
separatist rebels for the
crash of a military
helicopter in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast which killed one soldier and injured five
others.
A high command statement quoted by Anatolia news
agency said the helicopter had landed Thursday in
the mountainous province of Bingol during an
operation against rebels of the Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK).
While taking off again it was knocked off balance by
an explosion set off by rebels by remote control and
crashed, the military claimed.
The Turkish army maintains a strong presence in the
southeast, where it has been fighting a Kurdish
insurgency for self-rule for the past 22 years that
has killed more than 37,000 people.
The PKK declared a unilateral truce on October 1
which Ankara rejected, but the level of violence has
diminished since then.
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"
Southeast Turkey. The Kurds have no rights in
Turkey.
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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