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Turkey deports Finnish Kurd scholar Dr Kristiina Koivunen
18.12.2006 |
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DIYARBAKIR,
Turkey, December 18, -- A Finnish sociologist Dr
Kristiina Koivunen was detained in Turkey's mainly
Kurdish populated east returned to Finland Sunday
after being detained in Turkey and deported by the
Turkish authorities local security sources and
diplomats said.
Dr Koivunen told the Finnish News Agency (STT) on
Sunday that she had not known Turkey had banned her
from entering the country.
"Of course I would have reacted to it somehow. I
would surely have appealed the decision. However, I
was not informed of it until Friday and I was
immediately arrested," Dr Koivunen said.
"I have a prohibition against entering the country
issued by the Turkish interior ministry in August,
and it is based on state security. This is a
terribly drastic measure and I think it reflects the
way Turkey's situation has become worse." |
Dr Kristiina Koivunen, a Finnish sociologist |
Dr Koivunen has focused on researching Kurdistan and
the Kurdish question in Turkey. She has written
several books and papers on the subject.
A Finnish embassy official in Ankara named her as
Kiristina Koivunen and said they did not know why
she was detained Friday as she left the city of Van.
She had arrived in Turkey two weeks ago.
The embassy has contacted the Turkish foreign
ministry for clarification and hopes to get some
information next week, the official said, speaking
on condition of anonymity.
Koivunen will be flown to Istanbul to be deported
later Saturday, the official said.
Security sources said she was being expelled because
the Turkish interior ministry had banned her from
entering the country, but it was not immediately
clear why.
Local sources said Koivunen, from Helsinki
University, wrote articles in a Finnish newspaper on
the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which
has been fighting the Ankara government since 1984.
More than 37,000 people have been killed since the
PKK, classified as a terrorist group by Turkey and
much of the international community, took up arms
for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish east and
southeast.
The PKK proclaimed a unilateral ceasefire from
October 1, saying it hoped this would pave the way
for a dialogue to resolve the conflict.
The truce, like the previous ones called by the
rebel group, was rejected by Turkey, but fighting
has decreased markedly since then.
AFP | virtual.finland fi
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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