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Turkish PM leaves for US for key talks on
Kurdish PKK rebels
4.11.2007
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November 4, 2007
ISTANBUL, -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan left Istanbul Saturday for a visit to
the United States, where he plans to ask Washington
for "concrete measures" against Turkey's Kurdish PKK
rebels in Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq'.
"Our visit comes at a time when (Turkish-US)
relations are undergoing a serious test," Erdogan
told reporters at the airport.
"We have run out of patience with the terrorist
attacks being staged from northern Iraq," he said,
adding that he hoped his Monday meeting with US
President George W. Bush would produce "concrete
measures".
Ankara has threatened military action against the
Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Kurdistan
'northern Iraq', which the group uses as a base to
launch attacks across the border in southeastern
Turkey.
Turkish authorities accuse the Iraqi Kurdish
leadership of harbouring and aiding the separatist
PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much
of the international community. Kurdish authorities
in Iraqi Kurdistan region strongly reject the claim
of aiding PKK.
Iraqi Kurdish politician says, Turkey is using
Turkey's 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.
Wary of fresh turmoil in Iraq, Washington is opposed
to Turkish unilateral action in a relatively
peaceful region of the war-ravaged country.
On Saturday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
held talks on the sidelines of a multinational
conference on Iraq in Istanbul, seeking to avert the
threat of a Turkish incursion.
Despite Iraq's announcement of new steps to curb the
separatists, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan
said military options "remain on the table".
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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