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Turkey says intelligence-sharing with US
underway
15.11.2007
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November 15, 2007
ANKARA, -- Turkey said Wednesday that the
United States had begun to share intelligence on
Turkey's Kurdish PKK rebel targets in Kurdistan
'northern Iraq', and reaffirmed its readiness for
cross-border military strikes if necessary.
Last week, US President George W. Bush pledged to
provide Turkey with real-time intelligence to strike
at bases of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) after
talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan in Washington.
"All orders given after the meeting between Erdogan
and Bush have begun to be implemented," Turkish
Foreign Minister Ali Babacan was quoted by the
Anatolia news agency as telling the parliamentary
budget committee.
"It is very important that the intelligence is real
time and actionable," he added, without giving
further details.
Turkey has massed an estimated 100,000 troops on the
border as it threatens cross-border strikes against
PKK bases in Kurdistan 'northern Iraq', which it
says the rebels use as a springboard for attacks on
Turkish targets.
Pressure for Turkish military action against the PKK
bases increased after October 21, when rebels
ambushed a Turkish military unit near the Iraqi
border, killing 12 troops, injuring 17 and capturing
eight.
On Tuesday, four other soldiers were killed in fresh
fighting near the border, triggering a wave of
public anger.
Babacan said his government was still striving for a
diplomatic solution. But it warned that it would not
shrink from using the parliamentary authorization it
obtained last month to send troops across the border
to hunt down PKK rebels.
"Nobody should doubt that we will use the
parliamentary authorization at the most appropriate
and effective time," Babacan said.
Turkish media reported Tuesday that Turkish
warplanes had bombed three villages frequented by
PKK rebels near the border town of Zakho in pre-dawn
raids, but Turkey's air force denied the reports.
"Turkish air force planes have not engaged in any
action across the border," Air Force chief, General
Aydogan Babaoglu, was quoted by Anatolia as saying
during a visit to northern Cyprus.
"There was no such thing. These reports are
completely baseless," he said.
Jamal Abdallah, a spokesman for the Kurdistan
regional government in 'northern Iraq', also denied
that any air attacks had had taken place.
"Yesterday evening Turkish planes dropped flares on
border areas near Zakho. We do not know the reason
why they dropped flares. There was no air strike or
bombing. But an abandoned police outpost was
shelled," Abdallah told AFP.
More than 37,000 people have died since the PKK,
listed as a 'terrorist' group by Turkey, US and EU,
took up arms 1984 when for self-rule in Turkey's
mainly Kurdish southeast.
Turkey says it is left with no option but military
action because Iraq and the United States have not
done enough to curb PKK activities.
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. 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. www.ekurd.net
Both Washington and Baghdad oppose any large-scale
Turkish military action in northern Iraq, fearing
that it could destabilize the only relatively calm
part of the war-torn country.
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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