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Turkey warns military action in Iraqi
Kurdistan still possible
20.11.2007
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Goodwill not enough, Turkey tells Iraq of PKK
attacks
November 20, 2007
ANKARA, -- Turkish Foreign Minister Ali
Babacan warned Tuesday that his country was still
prepared to launch military action against Turkey's
rebel Kurds based in Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' if
need arose.
And he told Iraq it needed to do more than show
"political will" to deal with the problem.
"We have already suffered thousands of casualties in
this combat," he said, after talks with EU officials
in Brussels. |
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan |
"Turkey has a number of instruments so far for
combating terrorism and will continue to do that.
These instruments include political dialogue,
political instruments, diplomatic instruments and
military instruments," he said.
"When it is time, and when it is necessary, we will
use all the instruments to accomplish our combat
against the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party rebels) and
we expect the international community to support
us."
Earlier Tuesday, Iraq Foreign Minister Hoshyar
Zebari said he believed the chances of a
cross-border operation had diminished and he praised
Turkey for showing restraint.
But Babacan said Iraq, already wracked by sectarian
violence and a major insurgency, had to do more to
deprive the rebels of their bases.
Babacan said that while the Iraqi central government
had shown "a positive approach" and "good
intentions," political will alone was "not enough".
"Political will on its own is not enough. You also
need physical capacity to be able to respond to the
situation," he said.
"You need political dialogue and military
instruments. And when the time comes, we will use
all instruments at our disposal in the fight against
the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK)," Babacan told a
press conference in Brussels.
The PKK, listed as a 'terrorist' group by Ankara and
much of the international community, has waged a
bloody campaign for self-rule in mainly Kurdish
southeast Turkey since 1984. The conflict has
claimed more than 37,000 lives.
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 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
Faced with mounting PKK violence, the government
last month obtained parliamentary authorisation to
launch military attacks in neighbouring northern
Iraq, where the PKK has rear bases.
An estimated 100,000 troops and equipment are massed
on Iraq's Kurdistan border.
Earlier Zebari, also in Brussels, said he believed
the chances of a cross-border operation had
diminished and he praised Turkey for showing
restraint.
"We believe the chances of a major invasion are less
now," he said, before talks with EU foreign policy
chief Javier Solana.
"Turkey has shown wisely a great deal of restraint
in order not to destabilise the situation in Iraq,
especially when things are moving positively," he
said.
"I hope there wouldn't be any full scale incursion
because that would be destabilising and have serious
consequences on the entire region."
DPA | 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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