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Iraqi government protests shelling by
Turkey
10.6.2007
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Iraq
sends Turkey official memo of protest over shelling
Iraqi Kurdistan areas
June
10, 2007
BAGHDAD - The Iraqi Foreign Ministry on
Saturday issued a formal protest to Turkey over
cross-border shelling into northern Iraq directed at
separatist Kurdish rebels.
A statement said Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed
al-Haj Mahmoud called for an immediate halt to the
shelling, saying such actions "undermine confidence
between the two nations and negatively affect their
friendship." The minister summoned the Turkish
charge d'affaires, in the ambassador's absence from
Baghdad.
The statement was the first government confirmation
of the shelling. Mahmoud said the shelling started
large fires and caused serious damage, but gave no
other details.
Tension and violence involving Kurds, who lack a
nation-state but have long sought autonomy, have
ebbed and surged in the past century in Turkey,
Syria, Iran and Iraq. In Turkey, Kurds make up about
20 percent of the population of more than 70
million. The Kurds are seeking autonomy for
southeastern Turkey where they make up much of the
population.
Turkey has been building up its forces along the
border with Iraq, and its leaders are debating
whether to stage a major incursion to pursue
separatist Kurdish rebels who cross over from bases
in Iraq to attack Turkish targets.
The U.S. has warned against such an incursion,
fearing it might drag northern Iraq, the relatively
stable part of the country, into chaos.
On Saturday, a remote-controlled roadside bomb
killed three Turkish soldiers and wounded four in
Turkey's turbulent southeast, authorities said. The
bomb, believed to have been planted by Kurdish
rebels near the city of Sirnak, went off as a
military vehicle was returning from an operation, a
local official said. The official spoke on condition
of anonymity, citing regulations that Turkish civil
servants are not allowed to speak to the media
without prior authorization.
Two of the three killed were a major and a
lieutenant colonel, the highest ranking officers
killed recently in clashes with rebels active along
Turkey's border with Iraq.
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry also reiterated the
government's opposition to the presence on its
territory of the separatist Kurdistan Workers'
Party, also known as PKK, and said it considers the
rebel group to be illegal.
"Iraq would like to take this opportunity to declare
its resolve to cooperate with Turkish authorities to
allay Turkey's legitimate fears through a
constructive dialogue and positive cooperation,"
said the statement.
AP
** 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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