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Iraq parliament condemns 'cruel' Turkish
air strikes in Kurdistan
17.12.2007
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December
17, 2007
BAGHDAD, -- Iraq's parliament on Monday
strongly condemned
Turkish air strikes
on its northern territory of Kurdistan region,
branding them a "cruel attack" on the country's
sovereignty that resulted in civilian casualties.
"We strongly condemn this cruel attack on Iraqi
sovereignty and on the principle of friendly
neighbourhood," the parliament said in a statement,
adding that the bombings resulted inwww.ekurd.net
"several innocent
civilian casualties".
On Sunday, Turkish warplanes bombed several villages
in Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq' targeting
rear-bases of the Turkey's rebel Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK). Seven people were killed, including two
civilians, the PKK said.
"In the attacks, five guerillas and two civilians
became martyrs. Three other guerillas sustained
light injuries," according to the PKK internet site.
Locals said schools and bridges were also destroyed
in the foothills of the Qandil mountains along the
border.
"We all were asleep when the warplanes struck our
village," said Hassan Ibrahim, 75, a farmer from the
village of Qalatuqa along the Iraq-Turkey border.
"When the attack came I got out of the house. We
were all suffocating because of the dust."
He said Turkish warplanes had been overflying the
region for the past month.
"Earlier it was Saddam who destroyed our homes, now
it is the Turks," an angry Ibrahim told AFP as he
prepared to leave his home.
Witnesses said the bombings had razed dozens of
buildings in Qalatuqa, including a soon-to-be-opened
school building.
Asaka Abdullah, 40, said she woke up shocked with
the noise of the bombings.
"I was asleep when the sound of the explosion woke
me up. When I stepped out of my house I saw people
fleeing barefoot," she said.
"We really have no choice but to flee to the
mountains to escape the bombs."
In Baghdad, the parliament statement demanded that
Ankara exercise military restraint and adopt the
route of dialogue to solve the PKK problem.
"We call upon our neighbour Turkey to adopt the
route of dialogue and wisdom to solve internal
issues," it said.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari had led the
Iraqi condemnation prior to the parliament
statement.
"We understand Turkish concerns over the presence of
PKK, but yesterday there was some collateral damages
to civilians. ... such action must be coordinated
with the Iraqi government," said Zebari, who did not
give casualty figures.
The BBC, meanwhile, said on its news website that
the US denied reports that Washington had approved
the Turkish strikes.
On Sunday, Ankara's most senior general Yasar
Buyukanit said the US gave its tacit consent for the
operation by providing
"intelligence" and opening up northern Iraqi
airspace.
The BBC report quoted a US embassy official as
saying US commanders had not approved the attacks,
but had been
informed before they took place.
since 1984 when the PKK took up arms for self-rule
in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.
The PKK demanded Turkey's recognition of the Kurds'
identity in its constitution and of their language
as a native language along with Turkish in the
country's Kurdish areas,www.ekurd.net
the party also demanded
an end to ethnic discrimination in Turkish laws and
constitution against Kurds, granting them full
political freedoms.
AFP
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