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Iraq PM gives Turkey assurances on Kurdish PKK
rebels
18.6.2007 |
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June
18, 2007
BAGHDAD, -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
assured Turkey on Sunday that his government wanted
to halt the operations of Kurdish rebels based in
the mountains of Kurdistan (northern Iraq)).
During a meeting with Turkey's envoy to Baghdad,
Derya Kanbay, Maliki said Iraq "was concerned about
the operations of PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) that
result in the killing of innocent victims."
"We are keen to prevent PKK from carrying out
activities in Iraq," a statement from Maliki's
office quoted him as saying.
Kanbay met Maliki and delivered a letter from
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan assuring
Baghdad of Ankara's support in achieving Iraqi
stability and boosting relations.
The letter included an invitation for Maliki to
visit Turkey and welcomed the Iraqi premier's
proposal to form a high-level committee to develop
economic relations, the statement said.
On June 9, Baghdad lodged an official complaint with
Ankara charging it had shelled northern Iraq's
Kurdish region and warned that the attack against
Kurdish rebels could destabilise the region.
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Iraqi Prime minister Jawad Nuri al-Maliki |
Turkey says the PKK, whose two-decade-old insurgency
in eastern and southeastern Turkey has claimed more
than 37,000 lives, is acting under the protection of
Iraqi Kurds who are allied to the United States.
Violence increased in recent months as rebels hiding
in the rugged mountains of northern Iraq slipped
back across the border to attack Turkish troops,
effectively ending a unilateral ceasefire the PKK
declared in October 2006.
On Saturday, the PKK however said it will commit to
the ceasefire.
"We will commit to the ceasefire, because we do not
want to influence on (Turkish) elections especially
when the army is trying to influence it," Jameel
Baiq, a PKK founder, told AFP from the group's
headquarters in Qandil along the Turkish border.
Turkey launched several cross-border operations into
Iraq in the 1990s, but failed to dislodge the PKK
rear-bases.
It maintains a 1,500-strong troop presence several
kilometres (miles) inside Iraq to try to stem the
flow of PKK fighters across the mountainous
384-kilometre (240-mile) border.
Turkey has repeatedly demanded tougher action from
Iraq and the United States against the rebels and
refuses to rule out acting unilaterally if its
demands are not heeded.
Under mounting pressure to toughen measures against
rebel violence ahead of elections on July 22,
Erdogan said late Friday that he was awaiting a
response to a letter he has sent to Maliki proposing
talks by the end of June.
"This is a diplomacy offensive. The result of this
diplomacy offensive could shape certain things," he
said.
The influential Turkish army has called for a
cross-border operation to destroy PKK bases in the
border mountains of Kurdistan (northern Iraq),
where, Ankara says, the rebels also obtain weapons
and explosives for attacks in Turkey.
Erdogan stressed Tuesday military action should be
the last resort, saying that Ankara would seek
dialogue with Baghdad and focus on fighting the PKK
inside Turkey.
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.
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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