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Iraq urges Turkey to resolve Kurdish PKK issue
politically
28.5.2007 |
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May
28, 2007
BAGHDAD, -- Iraq urged its northern neighbour
Turkey on Sunday to pursue diplomatic means as it
attempts stop armed Kurdish separatists operating
out of northern Iraq.
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih told
reporters after meeting with a Turkish delegation in
Baghdad that Iraq would not accept a breach of its
sovereignty.
"We spoke about what are perceived to be security
threats to Turkey coming from Iraqi territory. We
emphasised the need of dealing with the perceived
threats based on established channels between the
governments of Iraq and Turkey," he said.
Turkish envoy Oguz Celikkol said a number of issues
had been discussed, including Ankara's growing anger
at recent violence it blames on the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK). The Turkish rebel group has
thousands of fighters in the mountains of northern
Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region.
"Iraq is our neighbour and what happens here is
important to us. We aren't here to discuss one
matter but all the matters that concern the two
countries," he said.
Last month Turkey's armed forces chief called for a
military operation into Iraq to quash PKK rebels,
but Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on
Friday that parliament had no current intention to
approve military action.
Last Tuesday, a suicide bomber killed six people in
Ankara but the PKK denied involvement. A day later
six soldiers were killed when their vehicle was
blown up by a landmine believed to have been planted
by the guerrillas.
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.
Reuters
** 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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