|
Turkish planes strike inside Iraqi
Kurdistan again 26.12.2007
|
|
|
|
Turkish army confirms air raid on rebel targets
inside Iraqi Kurdistan
December
26, 2007
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan Region 'Iraq',--,
Turkish warplanes bombed deserted Kurdish villages
in Iraqi Kurdistan region along the border on
Wednesday targeting rebel bases for the second
consecutive day, a Kurdish official told AFP.
"The planes targeted deserted villages but we do not
know the extent of damages," said Jabbar Yawar,
spokesman of the Iraqi Kurdistan Peshmerga security
force.
Another security official from northern Iraq said
the Turkish aircraft struck an area called
Nirvorokan in the province of Duhok.
He said the air strike took place at around 8:30 am
(0530 GMT). |
Turkish fighter jets strikes on Wednesday inside
Iraqi Kurdistan |
Turkish warplanes have
carried out air strikes regularly in the past few
days against the hideouts of Turkish rebel Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) who use the mountainous
northern Iraqi regions as a springboard for attacks
inside Turkey.
The Turkish military confirmed Kurdish reports of a
fresh air strike.
The raid was undertaken after "it was determined
that a large group of terrorists, who have been
watched for a long time, are preparing to pass the
winter in eight caves and hideouts in the Zap
region," the general staff said in a statement on
its web site.
"Our warplanes hit the targets in an effective air
raid that started in the morning hours of December
26," it said.
Iraqi Kurdistan 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. Ankara fears that if
the oil-rich Kirkuk joins Kurdistan, the Kurds will
have the economic foundation they need for an
independent state
Analysts believe the Turkish raids had a secondary
purpose of discouraging a quick referendum on Kirkuk
city, oil rich Kurdish city of Kirkuk lies just
south border of the Kurdistan autonomous region.
Article 140, in Iraq's 2005 constitution calls for a
referendum in Kirkuk to decide whether the oil-rich
Kurdish province should be annexed to the safe
semiautonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq's north by
the end of 2007.www.ekurd.net
In December 2007,
Kurdish leaders agreed to a six-month extension of
that deadline, but no longer.
It was the third air strike on Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) targets that the Turkish army has
confirmed since December 16, in addition to a ground
cross-border operation.
Officials in Iraqi Kurdistan have reported two other
air strikes, including one on Tuesday.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a
'terrorist' group by Turkey, US and EU.
Since 1984 the PKK
took up arms for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast of Turkey. A large Turkey's Kurdish community
openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in 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 | ekurd.net
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 