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Turkey-Iraq talks over Kurdish threat
'positive': Iraqi official
26.10.2007
Update 2
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October
26, 2007
ANKARA, Turkey, -- Crisis talks between Iraqi
and Turkish ministers over the presence of rebel
Kurd bases in Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' produced
"positive" results, Iraqi defence ministry spokesman
Muhammed Askeri said.
"Very important talks are under way. There are
positive results, everything is happening as
planned," Askeri told journalists, adding that a
second round of talks would follow the initial
90-minute session later in the day.
The Turkish side has refrained from comment on the
discussions, aimed at dissuading Turkey from
launching military incursions into neighbouring
Iraqi Kurdistan against bases of the armed
separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Iraq's Defence Minister Abdel Qader Mohammed Jassim
and National Security Minister Shirwan al-Waeli
arrived Thursday for the talks with Turkish Foreign
Minister Ali Babacan and Interior Minister Besir
Atalay.
Tensions have risen since the Turkish parliament
last week authorised the government to order
military incursions against the bases of the
Turkey's PKK, which has been waging a bloody
campaign for self-rule in southeast Turkey since
1974.
They peaked after the PKK ambushed a military patrol
last Sunday killing 12 soldiers and capturing eight.
The Turkish army has since massed men and materiel
along the border with Kurdistan region 'Iraq', and
reported it had killed more than 60 Kurdish rebels
in fighting since Sunday's ambush.
The Turks have long complained of what they call US
and Iraqi inaction in dealing with the PKK in
Kurdistan 'northern Iraq', where the rebels enjoy
safe haven.
Washington and Baghdad have vowed to make good on
promises to crack down on the PKK, but Turkish
leaders, facing strong domestic pressure for rapid
military action, have voiced mounting exasperation.
Ankara has never, and still does not, recognize the
Iraqi Kurdistan regional government (KRG) and
refuses to meet with its representatives in any
official capacity. That reflects Ankara's fear that
any international respect shown to the autonomous
Iraqi Kurdistan region would only embolden Turkey's
own Kurdish minority to seek similar home-rule
status.
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'. Turkey fears
this could fan separatism among its own large
Kurdish population in southeast Turkey.
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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