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Four Turkish soldiers killed in clash with
Kurdish PKK rebels
13.11.2007
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November 13, 2007
DIYARBAKIR, Kurdish Southeastern region of
Turkey, -- Four Turkish soldiers were killed
in fighting with the Turkey's Kurdish PKK rebels
Tuesday in the country's restive southeast close to
the Iraqi Kurdistan border, security sources here
said.
Clashes erupted at Mount Gabar, in Sirnak province,
in a military operation against rebels from the
Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the sources
said.
The NTV news channel said there were heavy losses on
the PKK side, but gave no figures.
Turkey has massed an estimated 100,000 troops on the
border amid threats of cross-border military strikes
against PKK bases in Kurdistan region 'northern
Iraq' where it says the rebels enjoy a safe haven.
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.
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. www.ekurd.net
Turkey rejects direct talks with Iraqi Kurdistan
government, Officially, Turkey does not recognise
the regional government of Kurdistan led by
president Massoud Barzani.
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. www.ekurd.net
Pressure for a cross-border operation increased
after October 21 when PKK rebels carried out a
deadly ambush on a Turkish military unit near the
Iraqi border, killing 12 troops, injuring 17 and
capturing eight.
Last week, US President George W. Bush pledged to
provide Turkey with real time intelligence to strike
at the PKK after talks with Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Washington.
A Kurdish official in northern Iraq told AFP that
Turkish warplanes on Tuesday bombed three Iraqi
villages near the border town of Zakho known to be
frequented by PKK rebels. There were no casualties.
More than 37,000 people have been killed since 1984
when the PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist group by
much of the international community, took up arms
for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.
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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