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Turkish PM calls on Iraq to shut PKK camps
in Iraqi Kurdistan
19.10.2007
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October
19, 2007
ISTANBUL, -- Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip
Erdogan called on Iraqi authorities on Friday to
shut down camps run by Turkey's separatist Kurdish
PKK rebels in Kurdistan region in 'northern Iraq'
and hand over guerrilla leaders.
"What will satisfy us is the closure of all PKK
(rebel) camps, including their training facilities,
and the handover of the terrorist leaders to us,"
Erdogan told reporters in televised comments.
He welcomed Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari's
call on Thursday for the rebels to leave Iraqi
territory, but said the announcement was "late".
Turkey's parliament approved a resolution on
Wednesday allowing its troops to launch major
cross-border incursions to crush Kurdish rebels,
defying appeals from Washington and Baghdad. |
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan |
Some 3,000 PKK rebels, including several of their
leaders, are believed to be hiding in the border
mountainous of Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq'.
Since 1984 the PKK took up arms for self-rule in the
country's mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.
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)
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