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Kurdish PKK Open to Peace Deal With Turkey
16.3.2007
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March 16, 2007
IN THE QANDIL MOUNTAINS, Kurdistan-Turkey
border,-- Kurdish rebels say they have enough
weapons to defend themselves against Turkish raids
on their bases in northern Iraq but remain open to a
political settlement with Turkey that recognizes
Kurdish national identity.
Turkey is pressing Iraq and its American ally to
crack down on rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party,
or PKK, who launch attacks on Turkey from bases in
northern Iraq. The group has been waging a bloody
war in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey since 1984 in
a conflict that has claimed 37,000 lives.
The Turks have not ruled out military incursions
into Iraq to hunt PKK fighters, despite U.S. fears
that such a move could lead to tensions with Iraqi
Kurdish groups, important allies of the U.S. in
Iraq.
During an interview last week with the a PKK
mountain stronghold, a spokesman for the PKK
insisted that the rebels have the weapons to resist
any Turkish incursion.
"Our fighters are training very hard since we heard
the Turkish threats," Rustam Jawdat said. "We have
enough fighters to defend ourselves."
He added that the PKK was open to a deal — but on
its terms.
"We want to solve the problem with Turkey
peacefully. We have simple weapons. If we have
guarantees to recognize Kurdish national identity,
we would not need to carry weapons," he said.
The interview occurred in a PKK base in the rugged
mountains of northern Iraq. Access to the camp was
on foot, and the fighters would not allow
photographs of the area for security.
Jawdat indicated the rebels are more confident now
because they believed Kurdish politicians would put
pressure on the United States, and by extension
Turkey, to avoid any armed incursion.
"Now the Iraqi Kurdish leaders are against any
Turkish interference to the Iraqi territories,"
Jawdat said. He noted that both Iraqi President
Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and the president of the
Kurdistan self-ruled region in Iraq, Massoud
Barzani, had spoken out strongly against any Turkish
move into Iraq.
On Thursday, U.S. Joseph Ralston said in Washington
that the U.S. is addressing Turkish complaints about
PKK activity and that reducing the PKK threat to
Turkey would go a long way toward improving
U.S.-Turkish relations.
"As the snows melt in the mountain passes along the
Turkish-Iraqi border in several weeks, we will see
if the PKK renews its attacks and how the Turkish
government chooses to respond," Ralston said.
Jawdat said the PKK was willing to work with the
Americans and Europeans to resolve the conflict with
Turkey.
"America and the European Union should know that we
will not give up our weapons as long as (the Turks)
do not accept our rights and do not recognize our
national identity," Jawdat said. "It is impossible
to get the right of self-determination in the Middle
East without using armed struggle."
AP
** 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 as many as 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 some 20 million ethnic Kurds, some
of whom openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey
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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