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EU urges Turkey to avoid disproportionate
force against Kurd PKK rebels
6.11.2007
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November
6, 2007
BRUSSELS, Nov 6, 2007-- Turkey must avoid
"any disproportionate action" in dealing with
attacks by Turkey's Kurdish PKK rebels in Iraqi
Kurdistan, the European Commission urged Tuesday.
While the international community supports Turkish
efforts to fight terrorism it must do so "while
respecting the rule of law, observing regional peace
and refraining from taking any disproportionate
action," said EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn.
Turkey made it clear earlier Tuesday that it
retained the option of military action against
Turkey's Kurdish rebels in Iraqi Kurdistan, a day
after talks between Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and US President George W. Bush. |
EU urges Turkey to avoid disproportionate force
against Kurd PKK rebels |
The Turkish government has come under immense public
pressure to crack down on rebel PKK bases in
'northern Iraq' after the separatists significantly
stepped up their attacks.
Tensions on the Iraqi border increased after October
21 when PKK rebels Turkey says came from Kurdistan
'northern Iraq' ambushed a military unit, killing 12
soldiers and capturing eight others. The captives
were subsequently released.
Rehn was speaking as the European Commission
published its annual report on Turkey's progress
towards EU membership.
The EU's executive arm urged Ankara to press ahead
with key political reforms after limited progress
this year.
Since 1984 the PKK took up arms for self-rule in the
country's mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.
Turkey rejects direct talks with the official Iraqi
Kurdistan government on the crisis over the Turkey's
separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels,
officially, Turkey does not recognise the regional
government of Kurdistan led by president Massoud
Barzani. www.ekurd.net
Turkey has never, and still does not, recognize the
Kurdistan region 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
large Kurdish minority to seek similar home-rule
status.
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.
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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