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Turkey rejects Iraqi proposals to tackle
Turkey's Kurd rebels
27.10.2007
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October
27, 2007
ANKARA, -- Turkey rejected on Friday Iraqi
proposals to stop Turkey's Kurdish PKK rebels making
cross-border attacks as too little, too late and
said it remained in a "constant state of alert."
A visit for crisis talks to Ankara by a high-ranking
Iraqi delegation led by its defence and national
security ministers was "a positive effort ...
well-intentioned and sincere," the Turkish foreign
ministry said.
"However ... we see that the Iraqi delegation has
come with ideas that will take a long time to
implement. The time factor is very important."
"Turkey," it said, "expects urgent and determined
measures in the fight against the PKK (Kurdistan
Workers' Party) terror organisation."
Turkey says PKK rebels, who have been waging a
bloody campaign for self-rule in southeast Turkey
since 1984, enjoy safe haven in bases in Kurdistan
region 'northern Iraq' and it has long complained
about what it calls US and Iraqi inaction.
After an ambush on a military patrol on Sunday
killed 12 soldiers and left eight captured, Turkey's
parliament authorised the government to order
military incursions against the bases of the PKK
inside Iraqi Kurdistan region.
The Turkish army has since massed men and equipment
along the border and said it killed more than 60
Kurdish rebels in fighting. Washington and Baghdad
are opposed to any Turkish incursion into Kurdistan
region.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after
returning from Romania that his country remained "in
a constant state of alert" but hinted that any
cross-border operation was unlikely to happen before
he flies to Washington on November 5.
Erdogan told reporters that military action was part
of a "process," which includes his meeting with US
President George W. Bush at the White House next
month.
Iraq's proposals at Friday's meeting included
coalition forces watching over the Turkish/Iraqi
border and the creation of more and reinforced
military outposts along the border to prevent
infiltration by PKK rebels.
Baghdad also suggested direct talks between the
Turkish, Iraqi and US military and the revival of a
tripartite panel to coordinate the fight against the
PKK.
The solution to the problem "must in any case be
political and diplomatic," the Iraqis said.
Iraq's Defence Minister Abdel Qader Mohammed Jassim
and National Security Minister Shirwan al-Waeli
discussed the proposals with Turkish Foreign
Minister Ali Babacan and Interior Minister Besir
Atalay for 90 minutes on Friday morning and for a
further four and a half hours in the afternoon.
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.
The Iraqi delegation included Iraq's intelligence
chief and representatives of the two major Kurdish
parties in Kurdistan autonomous region in 'northern
Iraq', as well as a US military officer.
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
Since 1991, the Kurds of Iraq achieved self-rule in
part of the country. Today's teenagers are the first
generation to grow up under Kurdish rule. In the new
Iraqi Constitution, it is referred to as Kurdistan
region. Kurdistan region has all the trappings of an
independent state -- its own constitution, its own
parliament, its own flag, its own army, its own
border, its own border patrol, its own national
anthem, its own education system, its own
International airports, even its own stamp inked
into the passports of visitors.
**
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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