May 25, 2007
Duhok, Kurdistan region (Iraq), -- A military
source from Iraq's Kurdistan region said on Thursday
two Turkish warplanes violated Iraqi northern
Kurdistan airspace near the borders with Turkey.
"Two Turkish warplanes violated today the Kurdistan
region airspace for a distance of ten kilometers
inside the Iraqi territories," the source, who asked
not to be named, told VOI.
The warplanes flew over Kurdish villages west of
Zakho, the source added.
Meanwhile, local residents from villages on the
borders with Turkey told VOI "12 artillery shells
were fired from the Turkish territories onto the
villages of Nazador and Gali Bazagha with no reports
of casualties." |
Two Turkish warplanes violated Iraqi northern
Kurdistan airspace near the borders with Turkey. |
|
Duhuk, third province within Kurdistan region, is in
the farthest north of Iraq and it has borders with
Turkey and Syria.
VOI | aswataliraq info
** 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.
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.
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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