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White House won't condemn Turkish
incursion in Iraqi Kurdistan
18.12.2007
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December
18, 2007
WASHINGTON, -- The White House on Tuesday
declined to object to a reported Turkish incursion
targeting Turkeu's Kurdish PKK fighters in Kurdistan
region in 'northern Iraq', citing what it called
"conflicting" information about the raid.
Spokeswoman Dana Perino called the Turkey's outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters "a threat"
to Turkey, Iraq, and the United States but said
Washington had urged Ankara to take "very targeted
and limited" action against them.
But she declined to comment specifically on what the
office of Massoud Barzani, president of Iraq's
Kurdistan government, said was an incursion by
around 500 Turkish soldiers.www.ekurd.net
Turkey has declined to
confirm the strike.
"Since there are conflicting reports, let's wait and
see what is actually happening on the ground there
before we comment.
We have asked Turkey to keep the operations very
targeted and limited," said Perino.
"I think we should wait until there's more concrete
information from the ground in terms of how far the
incursion was, how many people, who all was
involved," said the spokeswoman.
"I can tell you that of course we are coordinating
with the Turkish and Iraqi authorities in the area.
The PKK is a threat to Turkey, to Iraq, and to the
United States. So we continue to share information,
share intelligence, with them (Turkish and Iraqi
authorities)," said Perino.
"The Turks have moved forward with our coordination
and in communication with the Iraqis in order to
eradicate that threat," the spokeswoman said.
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.
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 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.
The PKK is listed as a "terrorist" group by Turkey
and much of the international community.
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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