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Kurds in Germany protest against Turkish
military action
16.11.2007
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December
16, 2007
Dusseldorf, Germany, -- Some 10,000 Kurds
marched through the centre of Dusseldorf on Saturday
in protest against a crackdown by the military in
Turkey. Police said the demonstration called by the
Federation of Kurdish Associations was largely
peaceful.
Around 1,000 police were on duty as two columns of
marchers made their way to the banks of the Rhine
river for a closing rally.
The rally was in response to a crackdown launched
earlier this month by the Turkish military against
Kurdish rebels near the border with Iraq.
Turkey has threatened an offensive inside Iraq
against the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party PKK.
The Turkish military estimates that around 3,000 PKK
rebels use bases in mountainous northern Iraq from
which they launch raids across the border into
southern Turkey.
Since 1984the 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. The (PKK) KONGRA-GEL
released an
official declaration
reiterating their desire for negotiations with the
Turkish government.
DPA
**
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,
large Kurdish community 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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