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Turkey accuses Kurdish DTP party of PKK-rebel
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6.11.2007
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November 6, 2007
ANKARA, -- Turkey on Monday accused the
country's main Kurdish DTP party of having links
with separatist rebels after its lawmakers took part
in the release of eight Turkish soldiers held
captive in Kurdistan 'northern Iraq'.
"What happened yesterday (Sunday) has clearly shown
who is close to who and who is in communication with
who," Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek told the
Anatolia news agency.
"They have been caught red-handed," Cicek said,
referring to the Democratic Society Party (DTP).
Three DTP lawmakers were present Sunday when the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) handed over
the eight soldiers to the Kurdish regional
government in northern Iraq after holding them
captive for nearly two weeks.
The chief prosecutor's office in Ankara on Monday
launched an investigation to see if the involvement
of the lawmakers -- Osman Ozcelik, Aysel Tugluk and
Fatma Kurtulan -- constituted a crime under the
anti-terror law, Anatolia said.
The investigation could lead to the lawmakers being
formally charged.
The DTP, which has 20 seats in parliament, is
frequently accused by Ankara of being a tool of the
PKK, which took up arms in 1984 in a campaign for
self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast. The
conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives. www.ekurd.net
The DTP rejects the charges and says it wants to see
a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
The eight soldiers released on Sunday were captured
by the PKK on October 21 during a bloody ambush on a
military unit near the border with Iraq, that also
left 12 other soldiers dead.
The attack raised regional tensions and put pressure
on the Turkish government to launch military strikes
in Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' to root out Turkey's
PKK rebels using the region as a springboard for
attacks across the border in Turkey.
Ankara accuses Iraqi Kurds of supporting the group,
listed as a 'terrorist' organization, Kurdish
authorities in Kurdistan region strongly reject the
claim.
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. www.ekurd.net
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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