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US urges Turkey against Iraqi Kurdistan
invasion
22.10.2007
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October
22, 2007
WASHINGTON, -- The United States has opened a
diplomatic "full court press" to urge Turkey not to
invade Iraqi Kurdistan 'northern Iraq', the State
Department said Monday, as tensions between the two
countries soared following an ambush by rebel Kurds
that killed 12 Turkish soldiers and left eight
missing.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and president of
Iraq's Kurdistan region, Massoud Barzani, on Sunday
to press the U.S. case for restraint from Turkey and
Iraqi action against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK), department spokesman Sean McCormack
said.
"We do not believe unilateral cross-border
operations are the best way to address this issue,"
he said, describing Rice's call to Erdogan, whose
government has threatened military incursions into
Iraqi Kurdistan to deal with the PKK.
"In our view, there are better ways to deal with
this issue," McCormack said, stressing that the
United States regards the PKK as a terrorist
organization.
He said Rice had told both Erdogan and Barzani that
"we are going to do everything we can to encourage
Turkey and Iraq to work together to address what is
a common threat."
"She underlined to President Barzani the importance
of Iraq working actively with the Turkish government
to counter what is a real threat to Turkish
citizens," he said, adding: "It's important that
there be action to counter the PKK."
Erdogan said earlier that he had told Rice that
Turkey expected "speedy steps from the U.S." in
cracking down on Kurdish rebels and that Rice had
asked "for a few days" from him.
McCormack did not dispute the account of the
conversation but declined to comment on what Rice
had meant by asking for "a few days."
As Rice was speaking to Erdogan and Barzani,
McCormack said, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan
Crocker, was making similar points in Baghdad with
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani — himself a Kurd —
who ordered the PKK to lay down their arms or leave
Iraq, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
The spokesman added that he "would not be surprised"
if White House officials, including possibly
President Bush, followed up the Rice and Crocker
conversations with Turkish and Iraqi officials.
"From our perspective this is a diplomatic
full-court press," McCormack said. "We want to see
an outcome where you have the Turks and the Iraqis
working together and we will do what we can to
resolve the issue without a Turkish cross-border
incursion."
AP
**
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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