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Kurdish PKK rebels moving back into
Turkey, leaving Iraq's Kurdistan
12.10.2007 |
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PKK
warned in a statement that they will target Turkey's
ruling AK Party and main opposition CHP
October
12, 2007
TUNCELI, Kurdish Southeastern region of
Turkey, -- Kurdish rebels fighting for an
independent homeland in the mainly Kurdish
southeastern Turkey said on Friday they were moving
back into Turkey from the mountains of Iraqi
Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' and would target
politicians and police.
The announcement, in a statement by the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK), came as Ankara seeks permission
from parliament to carry out a cross-border
offensive against an estimated 3,000 rebels it says
are based in Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq'.
The United States is eager to avoid any major
embroilment of Turkish troops in Kurdistan 'northern
Iraq', which is one of the few areas of relative
calm in the country. Washington fears a Turkish
invasion would damage its relations with the
Kurdistan administration and have ramifications
through the region. Iraqi Kurds are the strongest
allies the US has in the area.
"The source of this war is in north Kurdistan
(eastern Turkey) ... the guerrillas are not moving
to the south (northern Iraq); on the contrary they
are moving to ... places in the north," it said in a
statement, which was also published on Firat news
agency.
"The guerrillas are positioning themselves against
the attacks of the Turkish state," it said. "We will
carry out more attacks against the police."
"AKP and CHP (opposition party) organisations in the
region are among our targets."
The armed forces and the AK Party (AKP) government
of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan are under strong
domestic pressure to act against the PKK after a
string of attacks that have killed Turkish soldiers
in the southeast.
The PKK is considered a terrorist organisation by
Turkey, the United States 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. Turkey is home to over
25 million ethnic Kurds.
Reuters
**
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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