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Kurdish PKK rebels call on Ankara for
peace plan
1.11.2007
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PKK
rebels: Turkey must "give the Kurds their national,
cultural and political rights and freedom of
expression."
November 1, 2007
Qandil mountains, Turkey-Iraqi Kurdistan
border, -- A top Turkey's Kurdish PKK rebel based in
Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' called on Ankara to
present a peace plan that could end his group's
two-decade armed rebellion against Turkey, in an
interview with AFP on Thursday.
"I call upon Turkey to be courageous and present a
peace plan to solve the problem. In this way it is
possible to have a ceasefire," said Abdurrahman
Cadirci, a senior leader in the rebel Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK).
Cadirci, who heads the PKK's foreign relations
office, said Turkey has carried out 24 military
incursions into northern Iraq previously but "failed
to eliminate us."
"This time also nobody will stand behind Turkey
against us," he said, adding a "step-by-step process
can achieve progress and lead to a solution to our
problem. A military solution has never succeeded."
Cadirci also called for the release of PKK leader
Abdullah Ocalan, who has been in prison in Turkey
since 1999 and who he said was "living in harsh
conditions" in his isolated island jail.
Ankara has threatened to carry out a military
incursion into northern Iraq to flush out PKK rebels
after they attacked a Turkish military patrol two
weeks ago and killed 12 soldiers. Another eight
soldiers have been captured.
Turkey has massed up to 100,000 troops along its
border with Iraqi Kurdistan, according to media
reports, but the United States and its allies have
been appealing to Ankara to refrain from action they
fear could destabilise the region.
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..
Elaborating on the peace plan, Cadirci said Turkey
must "give the Kurds their national, cultural and
political rights and freedom of expression."
Cadirci urged Ankara to hold back from a military
incursion and said any assault was "aimed at
destroying the achievements in southern Kurdistan,"
referring to northern Iraq's Kurdistan region -- one
of the calmest places in the violence-ravaged
country.
"We urge them (Turkey) not to attack the PKK and to
be reasonable. We have not attacked them and in the
past we have also declared a ceasfire, but they keep
attacking to eliminate us," Cadirci said.
Iraq's three Kurdish provinces of Erbil, Duhok and
Sulaimaniyah enjoy relative prosperity and security
as compared to other volatile regions of the
country.
Cadirci's comments came a day after Turkey announced
a blitz of sanctions targeting the PKK in a move
expected to affect members of northern Iraq's
autonomous Kurdistan administration.
Turkish vice prime minister Cemil Cicek said the
cabinet had adopted "simultaneous military,
political, diplomatic and economic measures"
targeting the PKK and its associates -- "those who
help it and who shield it."
Ankara accuses the Iraqi Kurdistan administration of
harbouring the PKK rebels and on Thursday, the NTV
news channel said Turkey had closed its air space to
planes bound for northern Iraq as part of economic
sanctions. Kurdish authorities in Kurdistan region
strongly reject the claim of supporting PKK. www.ekurd.net
According to press reports, the sanctions could also
include restricting trade to Iraq and cutting off
electricity supplies to Kurdistan region 'the north
of Iraq'.
Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan regional
government that holds sway in northern Iraq,
regretted Ankara's refusal to hold direct talks on
the crisis over the Turkey's separatist Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) rebels.
Barzani said he was worried that Turkey is using the
PKK as a pretext to undermine Kurdistan autonomy in
northern Iraq.
Turkey rejects direct talks with Iraqi Kurdistan
government, Officially, Turkey does not recognise
the regional government of Kurdistan led by
president Massoud Barzani, that reflects Ankara's
fear that any international respect shown to the
autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region would only
embolden Turkey's own large Kurdish minority to seek
similar home-rule status. www.ekurd.net
Iraqi Kurds says, the PKK problem is an "internal
Turkish problem,"
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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