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Turkey Charges Troops Released By Kurdish
PKK Rebels
12.11.2007
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November 12, 2007
ISTANBUL, -- Eight Turkish soldiers freed
last week by Turkey's Kurdish PKK rebels have been
charged by the military with disobeying orders in a
way that could have led to "catastrophe," a defense
lawyer said on Sunday.
The capture of the soldiers in October intensified a
stand-off between the Turkish military and the
Turkey's separatist PKK rebels and nearly led to a
Turkish cross-border operation into Kurdistan
'northern Iraq', which some 3,000 of the Kurdish
rebels use as a base.
"The soldiers have been charged with disobeying
orders in a manner facilitating catastrophe," a
lawyer for the soldier's defense said. |
Eight Turkish soldiers freed last week by Turkey's
Kurdish PKK rebels have been charged by the Tukish
military |
The soldiers' lawyer, Ramazan Korkmaz, who was not
allowed to go through the court file but was present
at Saturday's hearing, said the soldiers were
accused of "not properly fulfilling their national
duty," in a clash that left many other soldiers dead
or wounded.
He did not say what orders the soldiers, now under
detention, were accused of disobeying in connection
with their captivity or clarify the reference to
"catastrophe".
Soldier's father calls on nation to release son
Ibrahim Cagan, the father of one of the soldiers,
said Sunday he did not know his son was imprisoned
until he saw news reports, and that he and his son
had not been able to communicate since his release
by the rebels.
“I am very sad,” said Cagan. “I am calling on our
heroic army to release my son.”
Investigation
There are no clear indications of the charges the
soldiers face although one lawyer involved in the
case told Associated Press news agency they included
disobedience and escaping abroad.
The lawyer said the soldiers were in a military
prison in the eastern province of Van.
Criticism of the troops' actions had even come from
Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin.
"No member of the Turkish armed forces should have
found themselves in such a situation," he said last
week.
"As a Turkish citizen I cannot accept the fact that
they went with the terrorists that night. Our
soldier is prepared to die if necessary when he is
protecting the country."
Ankara has threatened an incursion into Kurdistan
'northern Iraq' to root out Turkey's Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) rebels who use mountains there
as a base for attacks inside Turkey. www.ekurd.net
The soldiers have faced criticism at home since
their return and have been accused by some of aiding
PKK propaganda.
The release of the soldiers last week, before
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's meeting with
U.S. President George W. Bush, was seen
internationally as a move to reduce tensions between
the rebels and the Turkish military.
Three parliamentarians of Turkey's pro-Kurdish
Democratic Society Party who traveled to northern
Iraq to participate in a ceremony with
representatives of the northern Iraqi government to
free the soldiers are under investigation.
The Turkish military still has approximately 100,000
troops stationed on its border with Iraqi Kurdistan.
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.net
Reuters | AP | BBC
**
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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