|
Top Turkish general tells Kurds "we love
you"
11.4.2006
|
|
|
|
DIYARBAKIR,
Kurdistan-Turkey, April 10 (Reuters) - Turkey's top
soldier made a rare visit to the country's troubled,
mainly Kurdish southeast on Monday and said the army
was with its people and wanted to help them.
The impoverished region has been rocked by fierce
street battles between Kurdish protesters and
security forces in which 16 people have been killed
and more than 300 injured.
The European Union, which Turkey aspires to join,
has urged the Turkish army and police to show
restraint in combating the violence and has said the
government should do more to improve the cultural
and economic conditions of the Kurds.
"We love all the people of this region. We are the
armed forces of the whole nation. We are serving the
whole nation," said General Hilmi Ozkok, head of the
military General Staff, in televised comments in
Diyarbakir, main city of the southeast.
Ozkok said the protesters did not represent the real
attitudes of people in the region. He also accused
the protesters of deliberately using children during
the clashes to gain sympathy and embarrass the
security forces.
"The Turkish Armed Forces are doing their job," he
added.
Ankara has blamed the banned Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) for the clashes, which began after funerals in
Diyarbakir and other cities for 14 PKK militants
killed by the security forces last month.
Tens of thousands of troops have been reinforced
across Turkey and the government has said it would
not bow to terrorists. Ankara, like the EU and the
United States, regards the PKK as a terrorist
organisation.
Turkey's powerful military feels frustrated that
recent EU-linked reforms aimed at curbing its
influence have curtailed its ability to hit back
hard against the PKK, Turkish media say.
More than 30,000 people have been killed in the
separatist conflict since the PKK took up arms
against the Turkish state in 1984 with the aim of
carving out an ethnic homeland in the southeast.
A group linked to the PKK has claimed responsibility
for a spate of bombings in Istanbul.
Reuters
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 