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U.S. envoy talks with Turkish leaders on
combatting Kurdish PKK guerrillas based in Iraq
30.1.2007 |
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January 30, 2007
ANKARA, Turkey,- A U.S. envoy was meeting
with Turkish government officials Tuesday to discuss
Ankara's accusation that Washington is not living up
to a pledge to help counter separatist Kurdish
rebels acting from within neighboring Iraq.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said no
action has been taken to expel the Kurdistan Workers
Party, or PKK, from bases in northern Iraq or to cut
off financial support to the rebel group. Turkish
opposition parties have pressed for a military
incursion into Iraq — despite repeated U.S. warnings
against such a move.
Ret. Gen. Joseph Ralston, a former NATO supreme
allied commander and U.S. special envoy for
countering the PKK, met with Turkish counterpart
Ret. Gen. Edip Baser to discuss possible measures.
Ralston was also to meet Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul.
The guerrilla group has been fighting for autonomy
in Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast since 1984 — a
fight that has left some 37,000 dead. The PKK is
considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and
the European Union.
Before Ralston's appointment in August, Turkey had
threatened to take action against the PKK in Iraq if
the United States failed to address the problem.
However, Ralston's appointment has failed to satisfy
either the Turkish government or opposition parties,
which recently promised full support if the
government decided to take military action.
The U.S. has warned Turkey against any incursion
into Iraq, fearing it could alienate Iraqi Kurds —
the most pro-American group in the region.
Tensions between Turkey and Iraqi Kurds over the
future of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, claimed by
Iraqi Kurds as their own despite the presence of
Turkmens and Arabs, are also complicating U.S.
efforts to crack down on Kurdish guerrillas. |
U.S Retired Gen. Joseph Ralston
Flash Video - ROJ TV |
Iraqi Kurds, who in the past fought against the PKK
alongside Turkish troops in Iraq, are now openly
urging Turkey to consider a political solution and
accuse Turkey of interfering in Iraq's internal
affairs.
AP
The former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein forced
more than 250,000 Kurdish residents to give up their
homes to Arabs in the 1970s, to "Arabize" the city
and the region's oil industry.
Kirkuk city is a Kurdistani city and it lies just
south border of the Kurdistan autonomous region and
it is not under the full control of Kurdistan
Regional Government administration.
Based on Iraq's constitution, a referendum is to be held in late 2007 to decide
whether the oil-rich Kurdish province should be
annexed to the safe semiautonomous Kurdistan region
in Iraq's north.
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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