|
Fifty Turkish tanks on Iraqi Kurdistan border
12.5.2007 |
|
|
|
May
12, 2007
ISTANBUL, Turkey,-- Fifty Turkish tanks
conducted military drills on the Kurdistan (northern
Iraq) border Friday, local media reported.
Turkey claims Kurdistan region (northern Iraq) is a
haven for the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, and
has asked the United States to launch military
campaigns against militants in the mountainous
region, the Kuwait news service KUNA reported.
Friday's military drills were reported by the daily
Zaman newspaper.
Confrontations between the PKK and Turkish forces
typically escalate in the spring when melting snow
makes border crossings easier, KUNA reported.
Turkish Todays Zaman reported that thirty tanks
under the command of a tank battalion stationed at
the pilgrim accommodation facilities in Şirnak's
Silopi district carried out a military maneuver in
the region on Thursday.
Leaving their units, they traveled to the village of
Aktepe, five kilometers from the Iraqi border, where
they carried out a number of training activities
before returning to their units.
More than 30,000 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.
The United States and the European Union, like
Turkey, class the PKK as a "terrorist organisation"
UPI | todayszaman com
** 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
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 