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Iraqi delegation in Turkey Thursday for
crisis talks
24.10.2007
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October
24, 2007
ANKARA, -- An Iraqi delegation will hold
talks with Turkish officials here Thursday on the
crisis over the safe haven Turkey's Kurdish PKK
rebels enjoy in Kurdistan region in northern Iraq,
an Iraqi embassy official said.
The composition and programme of the delegation are
not yet known, the official told AFP on the
condition of anonymity.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, who held talks
in Baghdad Tuesday, said a high-level Iraqi
delegation was expected in Ankara "in a few days" to
discuss measures against the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK), which uses northern Iraq as a
springboard for attacks on Turkey.
"I told Baghdad that the delegation must come with
concrete proposals, that the visit would be futile
otherwise," he said.
Babacan said Ankara would not flinch from military
action in the event of Iraqi and US failure to clamp
down on the PKK, which has been fighting for
self-rule in thew mainly Kurdish Turkey's southeast
since 1984.
Massoud Barzani, the president of the autonomous
Kurdistan region in 'northern Iraq', which Ankara
accuses of supporting the rebels, but strongly
denied by Kurdistan,
urged the PKK Wednesday to end
its armed campaign against Turkey.
Iraqi Kurdish politician says, Turkey is using a
Kurdish separatist PKK rebel group as an excuse to
invade Kurdistan region 'Iraq' to prevent the
establishment of Kurdistan state in the Kurdish
autonomous region in 'northern Iraq', fearing this
could fan separatism among its own large Kurdish
population in southeast Turkey.
www.ekurd.net
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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