|
Kurdish PKK rebel leader renew call for
dialogue with Turkey
6.11.2007
|
|
|
|
November 6, 2007
ANKARA, -- Turkey's Kurdish PKK rebel leader
on Tuesday urged Turkey to negotiate with his
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), while Ankara
stressed that military action against PKK bases in
Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq' remained on the
table.
"Operations and attacks will not finish off the
guerillas... Do not darken the new century by
clashing with Kurds," Murat Karayilan told the Firat
news agency, considered a PKK mouthpiece.
"We are telling you what needs to be done: Stop the
attacks and let us discuss projects to resolve the
problem," he said.
The Turkish government said Tuesday that it retained
the option of military action to end the safe haven
the PKK enjoys in Kurdistan 'northern Iraq'. The
statement came a day after US President George W.
Bush pledged increased military and intelligence
cooperation against the PKK. |
Murat Karayilan, acting leader of the Turkey's Kurdish
Workers' Party, better known as PKK, on Tuesday
urged Turkey to negotiate with (PKK |
With an estimated 100,000 troops massed on the
border, Turkey has been threatening cross-border
military strikes to flush out the rebels if the
United States and Iraq fail to take urgent action
against them.
Washington opposes unilateral Turkish action in
Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq', fearing an
eventual confrontation between two key allies --
NATO-member Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds who rule the
region -- that could destabilise a relatively
peaceful area of the war-torn country.
Karayilan argued that a Turkish incursion will not
resolve the conflict.
"You (Turkey) insist that we leave Iraq. Would that
really be a solution?" he asked. "Our forces are
everywhere... We are also present on Turkish soil."
Over 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. www.ekurd.nets
Turkey refuses to negotiate with a "terrorist
organisation."
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
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 