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Turkey: Italian minister warns a Kurdistan
invasion would be a "disaster"
22.11.2007
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November 22, 2007
Istanbul, -- Italian foreign minister
Massimo D'Alema has warned Turkey against kind of
military occupation of the autonomous Kurdistan
region of northern Iraq. Such an occupation would be
a "disaster" D'Alema said during a two-day visit to
Turkey.
"Focused, limited military action by Turkey would be
considered acceptable, especially with an agreement
by Iraqi authorities," D'Alema said during an
interview aired on the Turkish TV channel, Canal D,
on Wednesday.
"But an occupation of northern Iraq would be
unacceptable, a disaster for Turkey as well."
D'Alema was referring to the possibility of a
military attack by Turkish forces on bases of
separatists from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK),
in the mountains on the border of Turkey and Iraq. |
Massimo D'Alema, Italian Foreign Minister |
His comments came as two US generals assured Turkey
on Wednesday that the PKK would be eliminated by May
next year.
During the interview, D'Alema said authorities in
Ankara should recall the Israeli-Lebanese experience
of July 2006, when Israeli troops invaded Lebanon to
respond to attacks from Lebanese Shia group
Hezbollah guerrillas. The crisis the July war
unleashed in both countries was still unresolved,
D'Alema noted.
D'Alema said the solution to the intensified attacks
by the PKK "cannot only be military, but should also
be political".
Referring to moves to close the Democratic Society
Party (DTP) which has 21 members in parliament and
is accused of being too close to the PKK, he said
such a move would send " a very dangerous message".
The DTP is a pro-Kurdish nationalist political party
in Turkey, considered by many as the political wing
of the PKK.
Turkish media reported two top generals of the US
army have assured Turkey that the PKK will be wiped
out in 2008.
Sources told the Turkish daily Today's Zaman that
Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the US Joint
chiefs of staff, and Gen. David Petraeus, the top US
commander in Iraq, gave their word that cooperation
between Turkey and the US would flush out terrorists
by May, 2008. www.ekurd.net
In a meeting with Turkish deputy chief of general
staff Gen. Ergin Saygun and general staff chief of
operations Gen. Nusret Taşdelen in the capital,
Ankara, Cartwright and Petraeus evaluated the
success of the real-time intelligence flow provided
to Turkey by the US.
The two countries had agreed to share intelligence
on the PKK after US President George W. Bush and
prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in
Washington earlier this month.
The two US generals expressed their opinion that
cooperation between the two countries against
terrorism would yield positive results soon.
adnkronos com
**
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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