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Japan: 8 illegal Kurds arrested, PKK ties
suspected
28.6.2007
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June
28, 2007
Saitama, Japan, -- The police have arrested
eight Turkish Kurds staying illegally in Saitama
Prefecture, and seized materials from some of their
homes that show connections with the armed
separatist group the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
based in Turkey, it was learned Wednesday.
The police said they would cooperate with the
Immigration Bureau to strengthen monitoring of
people entering Japan, believing that members or
supporters of the PKK might try to sneak into the
expatriate Kurdish community in Japan.
The eight were arrested on suspicion of violating
the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law.
The Metropolitan Police Department's Security Bureau
arrested the eight between November and April and
searched their homes. The bureau seized several
dozen items related to PKK activities, such as books
written by the PKK's leader Abdullah Ocalan and
photos of him, and the PKK's flag, which carries a
portrait of Ocalan.
Several suspects have admitted during the
investigation that they support the PKK. One of them
was named by other Kurds living in Japan as a PKK
member.
Investigators questioned the eight on the suspicion
of having collected funds for militant activities or
of supporting the harboring of militants, but found
no evidence of direct PKK connections. The police
have transferred the eight into the custody of the
Immigration Bureau, with some having been deported.
The police believe an agreement between Japan and
Turkey not to require visas for people from each
country for up to 90 days is one reason Kurds have
come to Japan. Police are warning that this
agreement is possibly being abused.
In the 1990s, Kurds fearing persecution in Turkey
after the government stepped up efforts against the
Kurdish independence movement started living in
Saitama Prefecture with the help of friends already
living there. About 300 Kurds now live in the
prefecture and actively participate in the local
community.
The PKK is an armed organization established by
Ocalan in 1978 that demands secession from Turkey.
Kurds constitute about 20 percent of the Turkish
population. The PKK has committed acts of terrorism
and has been designated a terrorist organization by
the United States and the European Union.
yomiuri co.jp
** 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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