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Turkey holds back from Iraqi Kurdistan
invasion for a few days
22.10.2007
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October
22, 2007
The immediate threat of a Turkish invasion of
northern Iraq receded today after Turkey's prime
minister agreed to give the US a few days to act
against Turkey's Kurdish PKK separatists.
Following more deadly clashes in the mountainous
border region with Iraqi Kurdistan, in which at
least 12 Turkish soldiers and 23 Kurdistan Workers
party (PKK) guerrillas died, the government said it
would pay "any price" to protect its citizens from
attacks.
Turkish armed forces have already stepped up the
bombardment against Kurdish PKK rebels on the Iraqi
Kurdistan side of the border.
However, Ankara - in the midst of intense public
pressure to retaliate - agreed to hold off from
invading northern Iraq in order to give Washington
and Iraqi Kurdish leaders a chance to rein in the
PKK.
The Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, said he
wanted the situation to be resolved peacefully but
had already ruled handing over any PKK suspects to
Turkey.
"We have appealed to the PKK to desist fighting and
transform themselves from a military organisation
into a civilian and political one," he said.
"If they insist on the continuation of fighting,
they should leave Kurdistan of Iraq and not create
problems here. We will not hand any Kurdish man to
Turkey, even a Kurdish cat," he said.
Speaking after meeting his US counterpart in Kiev,
the Turkish defence minister, Vecdi Gonul, told
reporters in Kiev that Turkish military officials
were not "urgently" planning an invasion. "They
[Turkish troops] are planning a cross-border
[incursion] ... We'd like to do these things with
the Americans," he said.
Turkey is well aware that any action in Iraqi
Kurdistan would damage its relations with both
Washington and the EU, but could find internal
pressure to launch an attack impossible to ignore.
Suat Kinliki, a member of the foreign affairs
committee, told Reuters: "I think we've passed the
threshold."
"It looks like for two days or three days there will
be a holding off and a waiting period," he added.
"Unless the US comes up with something magic in the
next few days - which is highly unlikely - we'll
probably go in."
Protesters have marched in several cities, including
Istanbul. The nationalist newspaper Cumhuriyet
carried the headline "Enough is enough" today.
After the crisis talks, the Turkish prime minister,
Tayyip Erdogan, said: "We expect the United States
to take swift steps [against the PKK] befitting of
our strategic partnership." He is due to visit
London today on an official visit.
"Our anger, our hatred is great," Mr Erdogan said.
However, he insisted his government would take "an
approach that is calm and based on common sense".
The US is anxious to avert any Turkish military
strikes against the PKK in Kurdistan region
'northern Iraq', fearing they could destabilise the
region.
The Turkish soldiers died during a large operation
against PKK rebels in the Oramar area of Hakkari
province, where the borders of Iran, Iraq and Turkey
converge.
PKK guerillas reportedly blew up a bridge as a
Turkish military convoy was crossing it. In the
fighting that ensued, the Turkish military said it
had killed 32 rebels.
A spokesman for the PKK told the Guardian guerillas
had killed 17 Turkish soldiers as they ambushed a
military convoy heading towards the Iraqi Kurdistan
border. The rebel group had also taken eight
"prisoners of war".
He said the PKK suffered no losses, but added that
clashes were continuing. PKK sources said fighters
on the Iraqi side of the border had dismantled their
camps and were adopting "defensive" positions in the
mountains in anticipation of a concerted Turkish
attack.
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.
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.
guardian co.uk | 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
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