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Iraq refuses to send troops after Turkey's
Kurdish PKK rebels
22.10.2007
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October
22, 2007
BAGHDAD,-- Iraq refused Monday to send troops
in pursuit of Kurdish PKK rebels on its northern
border in Kurdistan region but vowed to cut supplies
to the fighters in an attempt to ward off the threat
of a Turkish incursion.
Iraq's defence minister told lawmakers at a crisis
meeting that Iraq had "no intention" of re-deploying
badly-needed troops from the centre and south of the
country to carry out such a mission, according to a
top prime ministerial aide.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has
threatened an incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan unless
Baghdad clamps down on the Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK) rebels on its territory and turns over its
leaders.
Iraqi Defence Minister Abdel Qader al-Obeidi
appeared to put the onus on the American military to
take action by saying that security in Iraq was the
responsibility of the US-led coalition forces.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's top aide Sami
al-Askari told AFP that al-Obeidi had insisted Iraqi
troops could not be spared as they were needed for
maintaining security in the rest of the country.
He also said Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari
had announced that he was expecting his Turkish
counterpart Ali Babacan in Baghdad for crisis talks
on Tuesday. The timing of the visit was not
immediately confirmed by Ankara.
"Zebari also said in parliament that an Iraqi
delegation is expected to visit Turkey soon to
continue the dialogue with Ankara," said al-Askari.
The special session of the Iraqi parliament was
called after 12 Turkish soldiers and 32 rebels were
killed in heavy clashes over the border in Turkey on
Sunday, further raising tensions between Baghdad and
Ankara.
Turkey says the fighting erupted in a mountainous
region in the southeastern province of Hakkari after
PKK rebels infiltrated from Kurdistan 'northern
Iraq' and attacked a patrol.
The Turkish military said Monday that eight soldiers
were missing after the fighting following rebel
claims that they had captured an undisclosed number
of troops.
Despite pressure from Washington and much of the
international community to hold off on any
incursion, Erdogan said his government was ready to
use parliamentary authorisation -- obtained on
Wednesday -- to send troops into Iraq.
Hundreds of mostly Kurdish demonstrators holding
banners in Arabic, Kurdish and English, rallied in
the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk against the
Turkish threat, shouting "No, No Turkey! No, No to
aggression!".
"We came here in support of the Kurdish government's
rejection of the Turkish threats," said Shakiba
Khorshid, a demonstrator in her 40s.
In the main Kurdish cities of Erbil and
Sulaimaniyah, residents said they feared the
economic cost of any Turkish military action and
some had even started stockpiling food.
"The continuing Turkish threats may result in
closing the borders which brings about large
(economic) damage," said Bahaa al-Din Muhi al-Din,
the 43-year-old owner of a company importing
products from Turkey to Sulaimaniyah.
"It is true the borders have not been closed yet,
but if it happened it would result in large
damages."
The PKK, meanwhile, threatened to disrupt Iraq's oil
supplies through Turkey if they were attacked by the
Turkish military.
"The oil pipleine between Turkey and Iraq inside the
Turkish territories will be on of our targets,"
rebel leader Murad Qiralian said.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani rejected on Sunday
the idea that Kurdish rebel leaders could be rounded
up and handed over as Erdogan has demanded but told
the PKK to down arms or leave.
Ankara says some 3,500 PKK fighters are based in
northern Iraq where they are able to obtain weapons
and are supported by Iraqi Kurdish leaders, a charge
the Iraqi Kurdistan goverment strongly denies.
Faced with rising rebel violence, Turkey says it is
running out of options other than military action,
with neither the United States nor Iraq doing enough
to stamp out the rebel bases.
More than 37,000 people have been killed since 1984
when the PKK took up arms fighting for self-rule in
Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.
AFP
**
Kurds are not recognized as an official minority in
Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
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.
Others estimate over 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.
Turkey is home to over 25 million ethnic Kurds, some
of whom openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media.
The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish
alphabet has led to judicial persecution in 2000 and
2003
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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