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Turkey braces for potentially tense
Kurdish celebrations
18.3.2006
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DIYARBAKIR,
Kurdistan-Turkey, March 17, 2006 (AFP) - The Turkish
authorities are stepping up security measures in the
southeast ahead of Newroz, the Kurdish New Year,
amid concerns that Kurdish militants may use the
celebrations to fuel unrest in the already tense
region.
Bloodshed has in the past marred Newroz day, March
21, which the Kurds use as a platform to demand
greater freedoms or demonstrate support for the
separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has
beeen fighting the army since 1984.
The Kurdish conflict, which has claimed more than
37,000 lives, has long hampered Turkey's bid to join
the European Union and continues to cast a pall on
its commitment to democracy and human rights.
The police headquarters in Ankara warned Friday over
possible attempts by Kurdish separatists "to stage
provocative acts of mass violence" at Newroz,
Anatolia news agency reported.
"We expect our people to remain calm in the face of
such acts... and respect the law," police spokesman
Ismail Caliskan said.
Even though celebrations have been relatively
peaceful in recent years, officials fear Kurdish
radicals could use this year's festivities to stir
unrest as part of the PKK's renewed armed campaign
in the southeast, marked also by a series of bomb
attacks on civilian targets blamed on the group.
Tension in the region has also escalated over the
November bombing of a Kurdish-owned bookstore in the
town of Semdinli, which two soldiers and a Kurdish
informer are accused of perpetrating.
The incident sparked deadly riots and accusations
that Ankara has failed to purge rogue elements in
the security forces accused of summary executions,
extortion, kidnappings and drug-smuggling in the
1990s, when the PKK campaign in the region was at
its peak.
As the PKK called on Kurds to step up their
"uprising" during Newroz, Kurdish politicians and
civic groups appealed for calm and urged the
population to stay away from "provocations."
"Everyone should fulfil their responsibilities so
that the people can celebrate the Newroz in a free
atmosphere," said Osman Baydemir, the Kurdish mayor
of Diyarbakir, the main city of the southeast.
Traditionally, Diyarbakir serves as the venue for
the biggest Newroz festivities, which each year draw
at least 50,000 people from the region.
The PKK has denounced the relatively peaceful
atmosphere in Diyarbakir in recent months and urged
residents to "shake off their lethargy" on Newroz,
which traditionally marks the arrival of spring.
"Do not yield to the intoxicating and deadly spirit
of festivals and cultural events," the statement
said. "Step up and radicalize the uprising!"
The interior ministry has ordered police across the
country to block any attempts to turn Newroz
celebrations into pro-PKK demonstrations and not to
tolerate PKK flags and slogans praising the group.
Keen to improve their image in EU eyes, Turkish
police in recent years often tolerated open support
for the PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist group by
Ankara, the EU and the United States.
In the bloodiest Newroz so far, about 50 people were
killed by security forces in 1992 during clashes
across the southeast.
More recently, two men were crushed to death and
dozens injured in a police clampdown on violent
Newroz demonstrations in 2002 in the Mediterranean
port of Mersin, home to particularly militant
migrant Kurds although not in a traditionally
Kurdish-populated area.
Newroz, which marks the awakening of nature at the
March 21 equinox, is also celebrated in Iran and
other Muslim communities in the Caucasus and Central
Asia.
AFP
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