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EU urges Turkey to play 'constructive' role in Iraq
14.4.2007 |
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April
14, 2007
BRUSSELS, -- The European Commission urged
Turkey on Friday to play a "constructive" role in
Iraq a day after Turkey's army chief called for a
military incursion into (Kurdistan) northern Iraq to
hunt Turkish Kurd rebels.
"The stability of Iraq is in our common interest,"
Commission spokeswoman Krisztina Nagy told
AFP.
"The EU recognizes the constructive role Turkey
plays in the area and in this context it is
important that Turkey continues to play such a
positive role," she added.
In a rare press conference at the army headquarters,
General Yasar Buyukanit pushed on Thursday for a
cross-border operation into northern Iraq to crack
down on Turkish Kurd rebels he said had sought
refuge there.
"The EU is following the situation in the region
very closely," said Nagy. "Our hope and the interest
of all involved is that possible differences are
dealt with in a peaceful and constructive manner."
Turkey has accused Iraqi Kurds of tolerating, and
even backing the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),
which has waged a bloody campaign for Kurdish
self-rule in Turkey's southeast since 1984. The
conflict has claimed some 37,000 lives.
Ankara says thousands of militants of the PKK enjoy
unrestricted movement in (Kurdistan) northern Iraq
and are able to obtain weapons and explosives there.
The group is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey
and much of the international community.
AFP
** 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.
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)
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