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Kurdish PKK guerrillas 'Open' to dialogue
with Turkey, may give up arms
10.11.2007
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Turkey's Kurd rebels say open to talks with Turkey,
may give up arms
November 10, 2007
ANKARA, -- The Turkey's Kurdish PKK guerrilla
group whose Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' bases Turkey
has threatened to attack said Friday it was "open"
to discussing a political settlement that could lead
to laying down arms.
The Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, said
it was "open to dialogue based on a political
project to start a process which will totally
exclude arms," according to the Firat news agency,
which is close to the group.
Though it proposes trying to solve the Kurdish
question peacefully.
Also Friday, Turkish prosecutors launched an
investigation into the pro-Kurdish Democratic
Society Party after it demanded autonomy for Kurds
living in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast.
The prosecutor's office in Ankara said it would
examine the party's statements to determine whether
they violate Turkish laws against separatism and
other organizing. www.ekurd.net
The action came at a time of heightened tensions
over how the country should deal with separatist
Kurdish rebels.
"Anyone who has destructive aims and goals against
this country is the enemy of the Turkish people,"
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
Turkish troops are poised for a possible
cross-border offensive against PKK hideouts in
Kurdistan 'northern Iraq'. A series of hit-and-run
attacks by rebels has left nearly 50 dead, primarily
soldiers, since Sept. 29. Iraqi Kurdish politician
says, Turkey is using the 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'. www.ekurd.net
The Democratic Society Party DTP, which won 20 seats
in parliament in July elections, demanded more
rights for the Kurdish minority and autonomy for
Kurds living in the southeast. It called for
decentralization and the establishment of regional
assemblies, which would independently control social
services, education, cultural activities and
regional economic development.
The party also called for the recognition of Kurds
in Turkey as a distinct minority and said it was
ready to broker peace between Turkey and Kurdish
rebels. About one-fifth of Turkey's 70 million
people are Kurds.
The PKK is considered a terrorist group by Turkey,
the European Union and the United States.
Since 1984 when the PKK took up arms for self-rule
in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.
AP
**
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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