|
Iraq's Kurdistan denies strikes by Turkish
warplanes
13.11.2007
|
|
|
|
November 13, 2007
SULAIMANIYAH, Kurdistan region 'Iraq',--
The Kurdistan regional government in 'northern Iraq'
on Tuesday denied unconfirmed television reports
that Turkish military helicopters seeking Turkey's
Kurdish PKK rebels had bombed two empty villages in
the area.
Jamal Abdullah, a spokesman for the semi-autonomous
Kurdistan Regional Government, said two Turkish
warplanes had dropped flares as they flew over a
village near Zakho near the Turkish border in
Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq' on Monday.
"There were no artillery shelling or bombs from
warplanes," Abdullah said. "That was yesterday.
Nothing happened today."
Earlier today, news agencies reports that
Turkish helicopter gunships attacked villages
inside Iraqi Kurdistan on Tuesday, Iraqi officials
said and two Turkish television channels reported on
Tuesday.
Col. Hussein Tamir, an Iraqi Army officer who
supervises border guards, said the airstrikes
occurred before dawn on abandoned villages near
Zakhu, an Iraqi Kurdish town near the border with
Turkey. There were no casualties, he said.
Reuters
**
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
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 