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Turkish minister rejects direct talks with
Iraqi Kurdistan government
19.10.2007
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October
19, 2007
ANKARA, -- Turkey is serious about sending
troops into Kurdistan region in 'northern Iraq' to
hunt down Turkey's Kurdish PKK separatist rebels
hiding there and is not bluffing, a senior minister
was quoted on Friday as saying.
Turkey's parliament approved a motion on Wednesday
allowing its troops to launch cross-border
incursions, defying appeals from the United States
and Baghdad. The Pentagon then irked the Turks by
suggesting Ankara lacked the appetite for action.
"We have made the decision and we will do what is
necessary. We are not reluctant. There is no going
back on this," Today's Zaman newspaper quoted Deputy
Prime Minister Cemil Cicek as saying in an
interview.
Cicek, who oversees the coordination of Turkey's
counter-terrorism efforts, said "military needs"
would dictate the timing and scope of any army
operation. |
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek |
The parliamentary motion, backed by the bulk of
Turkey's parliamentarians, is valid for one year but
sets out no timetable for military action. Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan has signalled that military
operations are not imminent.
But Turkey's government is under heavy public
pressure to act after a series of deadly attacks by
rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
on Turkish troops.
Some 3,000 PKK rebels are believed to be hiding in
mountainous, Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq', a
region they use as a launchpad for attacks on
Turkish security targets.
Thousands of Iraqi Kurds
marched
on Thursday in Erbil, capital of their autonomous
Kurdistan region, to protest against Turkey's
authorisation of military incursions and to call for
peaceful dialogue.
But Cicek repeated Ankara's refusal to deal directly
with the Iraqi Kurdish administration.
"We don't talk with Iraqi Kurdish groups. Our
interlocutor is the Iraqi government in Baghdad, and
we discuss whatever we want with its
representatives. Northern Iraq is a part of Iraq,"
said Cicek.
Officially, Turkey does not recognise the regional
government of Kurdistan led by president Massoud
Barzani. The Kurdistan regional government is
recognised by US, Iraq and in the new Iraqi
Constitution, it is referred to as Kurdistan region.
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey. www.ekurd.net
Ankara has accused Iraqi Kurdish leaders of
sheltering and even actively supporting the PKK, the
Kurdish authorities in Kurdistan region strongly
reject the claim.
Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman said "Any tension in
the region will not streamline in the interests of
Turkey,"
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 also suspects the Iraqi Kurds of plotting to
build an independent Kurdish state in 'northern
Iraq', a move it fears could fan separatism among
its own large ethnic Kurdish population and
destabilise the whole region.
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'.
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
** Since 1991, the Kurds of Iraq achieved self-rule
in part of the country. Today's teenagers are the
first generation to grow up under Kurdish rule. In
the new Iraqi Constitution, it is referred to as
Kurdistan region. Kurdistan region has all the
trappings of an independent state -- its own
constitution, its own parliament, its own flag, its
own army, its own border, its own border patrol, its
own national anthem, its own education system, its
own International airports, even its own stamp inked
into the passports of visitors.
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