May 28, 2007
Duhok, Kurdistan region (Iraq), (eKurd.net),
-- Two US war planes violated Turkey's airspace over
the border with Kurdistan-Iraq for four minutes this
week, Turkey's military said Sunday.
In a statement posted on its web site, the military
said the two F-16 jets roamed into the Turkish
airspace on Thursday, over the region of Uzumlu, in
the province of Hakkari which borders Kurdistan
region (northern Iraq).
The violation comes amid intensified debate in
Turkey about whether to conduct a cross-border
operation into Kurdistan region (northern Iraq) to
pursue separatist Kurdish rebels who stage attacks
inside Turkey from bases there.
Washington has repeatedly cautioned Turkey, a NATO
ally, against making such an incursion. |
American pilot |
|
Kathryn Schalow, spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy in
Ankara, said: "It seems to have been an accident. An
investigation has been opened on the matter."
Turkish newspapers said the airspace infringement
may have been intended as a message to Turkey not to
send troops into Kurdistan-Iraq against rebels of
the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). U.S.
helicopters are tracking Turkish troop movements
near the Iraqi-Kurdistan border with daily flights,
and U.S. soldiers are watching from border
crossings, the Milliyet newspaper reported on May
26.
A military source from Iraq's Kurdistan region said
on May 24, two
Turkish warplanes
violated Iraqi Kurdistan autonomous
region 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.
The Turkish warplanes flew over Kurdish villages
west of Zakho in Kurdistan (northern Iraq), the
source added.
Duhok, third province within Kurdistan region, is in
the farthest north of Iraq and it has borders with
Turkey and Syria.
On Sunday, Baghdad urged
Turkey to pursue
only diplomatic means to combat the PKK
guerrillas
Relations between Turkey and the U.S. have worsened
since the Turkish parliament refused to allow U.S.
troops to use Turkey as a springboard for the
liberation of Iraq, and the U.S. rejected Turkish
demands to attack the PKK there, saying non- violent
means should be used first.
Reuters | AP | VOI
** 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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