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13 Turkish soldiers killed in Kurdish PKK
rebel attack
8.10.2007 |
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October
8, 2007
DIYARBAKIR, Kurdish Southeastern region of
Turkey, -- Thirteen Turkish soldiers were killed
Sunday in an attack by Kurdish rebels from the
separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the
southeast of the country, the army said in a
statement.
The fighting took place in Sirnak province,
bordering Iraq, the Anatolia news agency reported,
citing the army.
The regional government in Sirak reported earlier
Sunday that a PKK rebel had been killed while
fighting the army in the Mount Cudi area.
On Saturday, the army announced that it has created
27 new temporary security zones, reinforcing the
already existing plan to deter rebel movement in the
Sirnak, Siirt and Hakkari provinces, all close to
the border with Iraq.
Ankara estimates that there are thousands of PKK
rebels who are supported or tolerated by Iraqi
Kurds.
Turkey, the European Union and the United States
consider the PKK a terrorist organisation. More than
37,000 people have been killed since the PKK took up
arms in 1984 to fight for an independent Kurdish
state.
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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