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Turkish foreign minister arrives in Iraq
for talks on Kurdish PKK rebels 23.10.2007
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October
23, 2007
Baghdad,-- Turkish Foreign Minister Ali
Babacan arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday for talks with
Iraqi
leaders in an effort to pressure the Iraqi
government to take action against Turkey's Kurdish
PKK rebels fighting Turkish troops, as Washington
urged Ankara to hold back from unilateral military
action.
He is expected to meet Iraq's President Jalal
Talabani, a Kurd, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and
Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari.
Babacan was received in Baghdad by Iraqi Foreign
Minister Hoshyar Zibari.
The talks came as Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan raised the possibility of joint
action with the United States against rear-bases in
northern Iraq of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
which has stepped up its insurgency in southeasten
Turkey in recent weeks. |
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, left, arrives
for a meeting with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar
Zebari, second from left, on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2007 |
On Monday, Babacan told reporters in Kuwait that
Ankara would "continue to exert these diplomatic and
political efforts with good intention to resolve
this crisis caused by a terrorist organisation.
"But in the end, if we don't reach a result, there
are other means that we may be forced to use."
Turkish members of parliament have authorised the
government to take military action in northern Iraq
to flush out the rebels if it deems it necessary.
Turkish anger over the presence of PKK rebels in
Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' intensified after a
weekend attack by the rebels on a military patrol
that left 12 soldiers dead.
But the government has so far accepted US calls to
hold back from unilateral action.
The Turkish prime minister, who was in London for
talks with his British counterpart Gordon Brown on
Tuesday, said he had discussed with US Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice the possibility of joint
action against the rebels.
"We may conduct a joint operation with the United
States against the PKK in northern Iraq," Erodgan
told the mass-selling Turkish daily Hurriyet on his
flight into London.
The Chicago Tribune reported that the US military
was considering air strikes on the rebels.
Citing an official familiar with Bush's conversation
with Gul, the newspaper said cruise missile launches
against PKK targets have been discussed, but air
strikes using manned aircraft were an easier option.
"In the past, there has been reluctance to engage in
direct US military action against the PKK," the
official told the Tribune.
Turkey's top diplomat has been shuttling around the
Mideast to explain Ankara's position on the Kurdish
rebels, who carried out a cross-border attack Sunday
that left 12 Turkish troops dead and eight missing.
Thirty-four rebels were also killed, the Turkish
military said.
The attack followed a vote by the Turkish parliament
last week that gave permission for the government to
send troops over the border to wipe out bases
belonging to the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party
in Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq'.
Reuters | 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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