|
A Turkish army officer and six Kurdish PKK
rebels killed in clash, four of the rebels were women
4.12.2007
|
|
|
|
December
4, 2007
Ankara, Turkey,-- A Turkish army officer and
six Turkey's Kurdish PKK guerrillas, four of them
women, were killed on Tuesday in a clash in
mountainous of Kurdish Sirnak province in southeast
Turkey near the Iraqi Kurdistan border, the Turkish
military said.
The clash occurred during a military offensive
against a Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) hideout in
the Kupeli mountains in Sirnak province, which
borders Iraq and Syria, a statement said.
The General Staff said in its statement it had
identified the slain PKK militants as members of a
group responsible for the deaths of 13 soldiers on
Oct. 7www.ekurd.net
in the worst single
attack on Turkish forces for many years.
"Operations against the separatist terrorist
organisation are continuing uninterrupted and with
determination," it added.
The Turkish army said Saturday it had struck a group
of up to 60 PKK militants in neighbouring northern
Iraq, inflicting "heavy losses", in its first raid
across the frontier since the government authorised
such operations last week.
The rebels, who have long taken refuge in northern
Iraq, use camps in the region as a springboard for
attacks on Turkish targets across the border.
Faced with mounting PKK violence, Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government secured
parliamentary approval in October to order
cross-border operations, if deemed necessary,
against PKK targets in Kurdistan 'northern Iraq'.
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',www.ekurd.net
Turkey fears this could
fan separatism among its own large Kurdish
population in southeast Turkey.
Turkey has never, and still does not, recognize the
Kurdistan region government (KRG) and refuses to
meet with its representatives in any official
capacity.www.ekurd.net
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.
The army has massed an estimated 100,000 troops
along the border with Kurdistan 'Iraq'.
After talks with Erdogan at the White House in early
November, US President George W. Bush called the PKK
a common enemy and promised to provide Turkey with
real-time intelligence on rebel movements.
Bush's pledge was largely seen as tacit US approval
for limited cross-border Turkish strikes, mainly air
raids, against the rebels.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by
Turkey, US and EU, has waged a bloody campaign for
self-rule in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey since
1984. The conflict that has claimed more than 37,000
lives.
AFP | Reuters
**
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
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 