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Rice, Miliband appeal for Iraqi-Turkish
cooperation against PKK 23.10.2007
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October
23, 2007
WASHINGTON, -- The United States and Britain
issued a joint call Monday for Turkey and Iraq to
work together against Turkey's PKK Kurdish rebels as
tensions soared following deadly border clashes.
After talks here, US Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband
said they condemned a weekend attack by the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that left 12 Turkish
troops dead.
Miliband and Rice, who earlier telephoned Turkey's
prime minister to urge restraint, said they would
"intensify efforts with our Turkish and Iraqi allies
to achieve our common goals to end PKK terrorism." |
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice |
"We continue to believe that cooperation and
coordination between Turkey and Iraq is the most
effective means to eliminate the PKK threat," the
top US and British officials said in a joint
statement.
The leaderships in Baghdad and northern Iraq's
Kurdistan regional government must "take immediate
steps to halt PKK operations from Iraqi territory,"
Rice and Miliband declared.
"At a time when we are seeing real progress in the
security situation inside Iraq and efforts to
promote peace in the region, the Iraqi government
must demonstrate its commitment to regional
stability," they said.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has
threatened to launch a military drive into northern
Iraq unless Baghdad clamps down on the rebels and
turns over the PKK leaders it accuses of
masterminding cross-border attacks.
The United States, which uses the Incirlik air base
in southern Turkey as a major staging post for
supplies headed to its forces in Iraq and
Afghanistan, fears any incursion could gravely
undermine its battle to stabilize Iraq.
President George W. Bush Monday promised US
cooperation in Turkey's struggle against the PKK
rebels, who offered a conditional ceasefire if
Turkey's army stops its own attacks and drops the
threat of an incursion into Kurdistan region
'northern Iraq'.
AFP
**
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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