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Iraqi delegation arrives Turkey to solve PKK crisis
25.10.2007
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October
25, 2007
BAGHDAD,-- An Iraqi delegation led by Defence
Minister Abdel Qader Mohammed Jassim arrived in
Ankara on Thursday seeking to avert a Turkish
military incursion against Turkey's Kurd-rebels in
Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq'.
The eight-member delegation included Iraq's
intelligence chief and senior officials from the
Iraqi interior and foreign ministries, an Iraqi
diplomat said.
It also included two representatives of the two
major Iraqi Kurdish parties in Kurdistan region
'northern Iraq'.
The diplomat could not say whether the talks would
start immediately, but added that the delegation was
expected to leave Ankara at midday Friday.
Turkey has stepped up attacks on Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) bases along the Iraqi frontier since
parliament last week authorised sending troops to
northern Iraq to strike at the separatist outfit's
bases.
Tensions rose with a PKK ambush Sunday of a Turkish
military patrol that left 12 soldiers dead and eight
captured by the rebels.
The PKK has been waging a separatist campaign in
mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey that has claimed
37,000 lives since 1984.
The Iraqi delegation's visit follows a trip to
Baghdad on Tuesday by Turkish Foreign Minister Ali
Babacan, who said after his return that he expected
strong action from Iraq.
"I told Baghdad that the delegation must come with
concrete proposals, that the visit would be futile
otherwise," Babacan said. "We need more than just
words."
Iraq has since banned PKK activities on its
territory and said it has closed down the offices of
the group, considered a terrorist organization by
much of the international community.
Turkey's National Security Council, meanwhile,
recommended Wednesday that Turkey slap economic
sanctions on Kurdish-administered northern Iraq..
For his part, Kurdish lawmaker
Mahmoud Othman described on Wednesday
the Iraqi government's stance on the PKK crisis as
weak and "irresponsible" and denied Turkish
accusations of financing the party's activities in
northern Iraq.
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.
AFP |
VOI
**
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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