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Turkish police clash with Kurdish PKK
sympathisers in Istanbul
9.12.2007
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December
9, 2007
ISTANBUL, -- Turkish police fired tear gas
and used water cannons Sunday to break up protests
in Istanbul by supporters of a Kurdish separatist
PKK group whose leader Abdullah Ocalan is serving a
life term for treason.
Some 200 backers of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK)
took to the streets of Istanbul's working-class
Okmeydani quarter, shouting slogans in support of
PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, imprisoned since his
conviction in 1999.
They threw stones and petrol bombs at police, who
then used tear gas and water cannons to break up the
demonstration.
The CNN-Turk television station reported on similar
clashes in Bagcilar, on the outskirts of Istanbul
and known for its large Kurd population.
The Turkish army has threatened an intense campaign
against the PKK in the Kurdish-dominated southeast.
The army launched a limited-scope operation against
rebels in Kurdistan region ' northern Iraq' at the
beginning of the month.
More than 37,000 Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas have been killed since 1984 when the PKK
took up arms for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast of Turkey. A large Kurdish
community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK
rebels for a
Kurdish homeland in the Kurdish
southeast of Turkey (northern Kurdistan).
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.
AFP
**
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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