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Russia urges Turkey to show restraint in
cross-border incursion into Iraq's Kurdistan
10.10.2007 |
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October
10, 2007
MOSCOW, Russia,-- Russia urged Turkey on
Wednesday to show restraint in contemplating a
cross-border incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan region
against Kurdish PKK separatists, warning such a move
could undermine security in the region.
"We understand the worry of Turkish authorities in
the face of a wave of recent terrorist attacks,"
foreign ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said in a
statement.
"At the same time ... we call on the parties to the
conflict to demonstrate maximum restraint and to
consider all possible consequences of their actions
in the long term."
Kamynin warned that a Turkish incursion into Iraq
could have "negative consequences in the long term
for security and stability in a wide regional
context."
The caution came after Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said in Ankara that the his
government was considering seeking parliamentary
approval for an incursion into Kurdistan 'northern
Iraq' against Kurdish PKK rebel bases.
"The preparations for a motion have started and are
continuing," the Anatolia news agency quoted Erdogan
as saying.
Under Turkish law, parliament must authorise any
deployment of Turkish troops abroad.
The motion could be submitted to parliament as early
as next week, political sources said.
Exasperated by mounting separatist Kurdish violence
and Iraqi inaction against rebel bases, Ankara said
Tuesday it would employ all measures, "including a
cross-border operation if necessary," to combat the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Ankara says the PKK, listed as a terrorist group by
Turkey, USA and EU.
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. Turkey is home to over
25 million ethnic Kurds.
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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