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US concerned about escalation of Turkish
attacks 27.12.2007
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December
27, 2007
WASHINGTON, -- The White House Wednesday said
it had expressed concern to Ankara over the possible
escalation of Turkey's attacks against Turkish
Kurdish PKK rebels inside Kurdistan region 'northern
Iraq'.
"We've also made it clear to the Turkish government
that anything that could lead to escalated concerns
or civilian casualties; we have concerns about those
steps," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel told
reporters aboard Air Force
One.
The comment came amid new attacks early Wednesday by
Turkish bombers on positions inside Iraqi Kurdistan
region of the Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),
the third round of such strikes in ten days
confirmed by Ankara.
But Stanzel reiterated that the United States
regards the PKK, which groups Kurds battling the
Turkish government, partly from bases inside Iraqi
Kurdistan, as 'terrorists'.
"The PKK is a terrorist organization," Stanzel said.
"The Iraqis don't want terrorists in their country
and the PKK is a destabilizing force in the northern
part of Iraq. So we continue to work
collaboratively, both with Iraq and Turkey, on these
issues."
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',www.ekurd.net
Turkey fears this could
fan separatism among its own large Kurdish
population in southeast Turkey.
Over 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
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
**
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, a
large Turkey's 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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