May 18, 2007
ANKARA, -- In a bid to ward off a planned
Turkish military campaign against bases of
separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in
Kurdistan (northern Iraq), president of Kurdistan
region Massoud Barzani intends to extradite leaders
of the banned organization to Turkey.
The move is expected to push high the shares of
Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)
in presidential elections slated for July 22, local
daily "Vatan" quoted a senior military official as
saying in an interview to be published Friday.
Barzani will hand over leader of PKK military wing
Murat Karailan and member of PKK command Jamil Beyk
who lost their powers in the banned organization,
the official who led several military operations
against the PKK said on the condition of anonymity.
The two elements, no longer accepted by the PKK,
will be scapegoats to Turkish Prime Minister and AKP
chairman Recep Tayyep Erdogan. |
Massoud Barzani, the President of the autonomous Regional
Government of Kurdistan 'Iraq' |
|
Erdogan will use the gift to lobby for his party in
the coming elections. He will say to the Turkish
people "look and see how such problems can be solved
through dialogue," said the military official whose
secular establishment is staunch opponent of the
former Islamist prime minister.
The move is likely to prevent a possible military
intervention in Kurdistan (northern Iraq) to chase
PKK militants, thus promoting Barzani's popularity,
he added.
More than 37,000 Turkish soldiers and 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.
Turkey is home to over 20 million ethnic Kurds, some
of whom openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK,
which demands for independence for the southeastern
and heavily Kurdish Anatolia region.
The United States and the European Union, like
Turkey, class the PKK as a "terrorist organisation"
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.
Kuna net.kw
** 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, 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)
wikipedia
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