|
US: Kurdish immigrant Ibrahim Parlak fears
for deported brother's safety in Turkey
6.6.2007 |
|
|
|
Parlak said the U.S. should side with the Iraqi
Kurds against an invasion.
June
6, 2007
DETROIT, -- Kurdish immigrant Ibrahim Parlak
says he's worried about his brother in Turkey as
tensions there rise. Huseyin Parlak was deported
three weeks ago.
He sought political asylum in this country, claiming
past persecution in Turkey. But his application was
denied and he lost his right to stay here during the
appeal process.
Huseyin is now back in Turkey, where ethnic tensions
may soon boil over.
The Turkish government has been moving troops and
equipment to its border with Iraq. It says the
Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, is using northern
Iraq as a base to launch attacks.
Ibrahim is accused of being a member of that group —
a charge he denies. He said the Turkish government
continues to persecute Kurds inside Turkey,
including the region where his brother lives.
Huseyin is now in the southeastern region of Turkey,
where the Turkish government has tried to root out
Kurdish rebels.
Ibrahim said they've persecuted Kurdish citizens as
well.
“You cannot act a Kurd, you cannot do things like a
Kurd and live a life like a Kurd. You have to live a
life like a Turk, act like a Turk,” Parlak said.
The government accused Parlak of being a member of
the PKK, which they say is a terrorist group.
Recently, the group has been blamed for suicide
bombings and attacks on Turkish soldiers.
Parlak says he's never been a member of the group
and doesn't condone its methods.
The Turkish military now wants to invade northern
Iraq to root out the PKK there. Kurdish leaders in
Iraq say they want to fight terrorism, but they will
resist an invasion.
Parlak said the U.S. should side with the Iraqi
Kurds against an invasion.
“We as the United States, we gotta give them a
signal that the Kurds are not on their own,” Parlak
added. “Kurds are standing for their rights, they
are doing something right in the region and we can
support that — we should support that.”
For the supporters of Ibrahim Parlak, the
deportation of his brother brought home the very
possibility that Ibrahim could be deported as well.
“It brought back the possibility that they're still
going to go after Ibrahim as much as they can,
whatever tactics they can use and the community's
not going to stand for it,” said Martin Dzuris, a
supporter of Parlak.
“I wanted, my brother wanted to live in a country
where we can be free, where we can speak freely,”
Parlak said. “Why would you ruin that, what would
try to destroy that?”
southbendtribune com
** 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.
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.
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
region
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
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 