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Turkish forces kill two Kurdish rebels, foil bomb
attack on Turkish police
28.5.2007 |
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May
28, 2007
DIYARBAKIR, Kurdish Southeastern region of
Turkey, -- Turkish security forces on Monday
killed two Kurdish rebels and detained two people
suspected of planning a bomb attack against a police
station, officials and media report said.
The two rebels were shot dead in a clash between
troops and members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
at Cemisgezek, in the eastern province of Tunceli,
security sources said in Diyarbakir, the main city
of the Kurdish-majority southeast.
The army has been conducting a major operation in
the region for several days. Over the weekend, a
member of the local militia and a civilian were
killed in fighting with the PKK in the region.
A security sweep against the PKK has been under way
in the southeast since the arrival of spring when
the rebels step up attacks as snow melts in the
mountains, making their movements easier.
In Gaziantep, police seized a bomb and detained two
suspected Kurdish militants who were allegedly
planning to attack a police station, Anatolia news
agency reported.
Acting on a tip-off, anti-terror police stopped a
pick-up truck in which they discovered the bomb,
planted in a gas canister, as well as a mobile
telephone designed to activate the device from a
distance.
The driver of the truck and the man accompanying him
were detained and reportedly told police they were
planning to hit a police station in the city,
Anatolia said.
The driver has a son with PKK members who have found
refuge in neighbouring northern Iraq, the agency
said.
Turkey says thousands of PKK rebels based in
northern Iraq obtain weapons and explosives there to
attack Turkish targets across the border.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and
much of the international community, has waged a
bloody campaign for self-rule in Turkey's mainly
Kurdish east and southeast since 1984. The conflict
has claimed more than 37,000 lives.
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.
AFP
** 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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