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Turkish govt to seek parliament approval
for Iraqi Kurdistan incursion
11.10.2007 |
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October
11, 2007
ANKARA, -- The Turkish government is likely
to submit a motion to parliament Thursday seeking
approval for an incursion into northern Iraq to
pursue Kurdish rebels, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan said as deadly violence continued to plague
the mainly Kurdish southeast.
Erdogan, however, hinted that no immediate military
action was planned.
"We could send the motion to parliament tomorrow,"
he told CNN Turk television late Wednesday, adding
that a vote on the text could take place next week.
The government, he said, is planning to seek a
one-year authorisation for an incursion into
northern Iraq, where about 3,500 militants of the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) are taking refuge.
"It does not mean that everything will happen once
we have the authorisation," he said. "We want to
have the authorisation in hand so as to make a swift
decision when it becomes necessary."
By law, parliament must authorise any deployment of
Turkish troops abroad.
Ankara is exasperated by mounting PKK violence and
Iraqi inaction against the group, listed as a
terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union
and the United States.
Ankara says the PKK enjoys free movement in
Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq' and obtains weapons
and explosives there for attacks across the border
in Turkey.
It has accused the Iraqi Kurds, who run Kurdistan
autonomous region, of tolerating and even supporting
the rebels. Officially, Turkey does not recognise
the regional government of Kurdistan led by
president Massoud Barzani.
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.
A series of consultations between a US and a Turkish
representative, appointed to coordinate joint
efforts against the PKK, "did not produce the
expected results," he told CNN Turk.
"It turned out to be wasted time," he said. "They
(the US) say they are against the PKK. If you are
against, then you should do what is necessary."
Turkish criticism of the US has increased recently
after it emerged that US weapons given to Iraq had
ended up in PKK hands.
Washington on Wednesday
again warned Ankara
against unilateral action in northern Iraq as a bid
by US lawmakers to pass a bill labeling the Ottoman
massacres of Armenians as genocide put further
strain on ties between the two NATO allies.
The United States is concerned that a Turkish
incursion will destabilise a relatively peaceful
region of conflict-torn Iraq and fuel tensions
between Ankara and the Iraqi Kurds, who are staunch
US allies.
Turkey and Iraq signed an accord last month to
combat the PKK but failed to agree on a clause
allowing Turkish troops to engage in "hot pursuit"
against rebels fleeing into Iraqi territory, as they
did regularly in the 1990s.
Turkish observers doubt whether the embattled
Baghdad government, which has virtually no authority
in northern Iraq, can cajole the Iraqi Kurds into
action against the PKK.
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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