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Turkey: Troops fight Kurdish PKK rebels
9.10.2007 |
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Iraqi
Kurdish governor warned Turkey on Tuesday its troops
would sustain heavy losses if they invaded Iraqi
Kurdistan region ' northern Iraq'
October
9, 2007
SIRNAK, Turkey ,-- Turkey's military on
Tuesday pressed ahead with a major offensive backed
by airpower to crack down on separatist Kurdish
rebels, the state-run news agency reported.
Turkey's leaders, meanwhile, held another round of
meetings to discuss what steps to take against
insurgents launching attacks from bases in Kurdistan
'northern Iraq'.
Kurdish rebels have killed 15 soldiers in separate
attacks in the past two days, increasing anger in
the country over the insurgents' ability to find
refuge in neighboring Iraq.
The military said Sunday it shelled an area near
Iraqi Kurdistan to try to stop rebels from escaping
across the border.
Turkey has been pressuring Iraq and the United
States to clamp down on the Kurdistan Workers'
Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq, and has considered
a military operation across the border to stamp out
the guerrillas.
In the city of Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan
region, 350 kilometers (217 miles) north of Baghdad,
the Kurdish governor warned Turkey on Tuesday its
troops would sustain heavy losses if they invaded
Iraqi Kurdistan region ' northern Iraq'.
"If the Turkish troops decided to enter into the
Iraq's Kurdistan territories, their decision would
be wrong and they would sustain heavy casualties and
material losses," the governor, Nozad Hadi told AP
Television News.
The state-run Anatolia news agency said troops were
tracking down rebels in the Gabar, Cudi, Namaz and
Kato mountains, in Sirnak province which borders
Iraqi Kurdistan, annihilating possible escape routes
and supplies. Helicopter gunships were also
deployed, the report said.
In Sirnak, the biggest city in the province of the
same name, regional governor Selahattin Apari
confirmed on Monday that military operations were
under way, but gave no detail. There was no comment
from the military.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan gave the
go-ahead on Tuesday for all necessary measures to be
taken against Kurdish rebels, including a possible
incursion into northern Iraq where many are hiding.
An influential Turkish business association
meanwhile cautioned that Turkey must carefully weigh
the benefits of a possible incursion.
"If (a cross-border operation) would be of use, then
fine, but will it be useful or will it not be
useful, this really has to be thoroughly assessed,»
said Arzuhan Yalcindag, head of the Turkish
Industrialists and Business Association, or TUSIAD,
which groups Turkey's top industrialists.
After another security meeting Monday between
Erdogan, President Abdullah Gul and the commander in
chief of the armed forces, Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, the
sides expressed determination to «press ahead with
(the) rightful struggle against terrorism and to
implement strong measures.
Erdogan has said he would discuss the PKK threat
with U.S. President George W. Bush during a visit to
Washington next month. Kurdish rebels have staged
attacks on Turkey from their bases in northern Iraq.
But the U.S. opposes any military move into Iraq by
Turkey.
Turkey signed a counterterrorism pact with Iraq in
September and had demanded it be allowed to send its
troops to Iraq's north to pursue Kurdish rebels. But
Iraq did not agree to the demand under pressure from
the leaders of its semiautonomous Kurdistan region.
The PKK is branded a terrorist organization by the
U.S. and the European Union. More than 37,000
Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK guerrillas have
been killed since 1984 when the PKK took up arms for
self-rule in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast
of 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'.
Ankara is anxious to prevent the emergence of a
Kurdish state in Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq',
fearing this could fan separatism among its own
large Kurdish population in southeast Turkey. Turkey
is home to over 25 million ethnic Kurds.
AP | Reuters | Agencies
**
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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