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Turkish army warns Iraqi Kurds after soldiers
'harassed'
2.6.2007 |
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June
2, 2007
ANKARA, -- The Turkish army on Friday warned
Kurds in Kurdistan region (northern Iraq) that
Ankara would respond "at the highest level" if its
soldiers in the autonomous region are treated badly
or harmed.
The warning came in a general staff statement,
carried by the Anatolia news agency, which said that
Kurdish security forces in Kurdistan region
(northern Iraq) had earlier Friday harassed Turkish
soldiers at a checkpoint in the Kurdish city of
Sulaimaniyah.
"Everybody should know and understand that our
elements on duty in this area are sons of the
Turkish nation and the heroic Turkish army," the
statement said.
"The slightest unethical act or behaviour towards
them will be taken as one against the entire Turkish
republic and the Turkish armed forces and will face
a response at the highest necessary level," it
added.
The Turkish army keeps a contingent of a few
thousand soldiers in a region of Kurdistan (northern
Iraq) close to the Turkish border to monitor the
activities of Turkish Kurdish rebels holed up in
bases in the Kurdistan mountainous.
The general staff said Turkish soldiers travelling
in civilian clothes had been stopped at a checkpoint
in Sulaimaniyah at noon Friday where local Kurdish
forces verbally abused them and pointed their guns
at them.
The incident ended when Turkish soldiers introduced
themselves, the statement said, describing the event
as a "misunderstanding".
The Turkish soldiers returned to their bases safely,
it added.
The army statement came two days after the
autonomous Iraqi Kurdish government took charge of
security issues in their region in a transfer of
command from the US-led coalition.
The development is being closely monitored by
Turkey, which charges that thousands of rebels from
the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have
found refuge in the mountainous region.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and
much of the international community, has fought for
Kurdish self-rule in southeastern Turkey since 1984
in a conflict that has claimed more than 37,000
lives.
Ankara says the Iraqi Kurds tolerate -- and even
assist -- PKK rebels who, it charges, enjoy free
movement and obtain weapons and explosives there for
attacks across the border.
Turkey has long been frustrated by US and Iraqi
reluctance to stamp out the PKK presence in the
region and has even threatened to carry out a
cross-border operation if Washington and Baghdad
fail to do so.
The chief of the Turkish general staff, General
Yasar Buyukanit, said on Thursday that he favored an
incursion into northern Iraq to clean up PKK bases,
but added that Turkish troops could find themselves
fighting Iraqi forces in such an operation.
"The political authorities must determine whether,
once we go in (to northern Iraq), we act only
against the PKK or if something will happen with
Barzani as well," he said, referring to Massoud
Barzani, the president of Kurdistan autonomous
region's government.
Vocal support for a Turkish incursion has been
growing since PKK activities in the southeast
increased with the arrival of spring and a suicide
bomb attack in Ankara, blamed on the PKK, killed six
and wounded more than 100.
But Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said last week
Turkey had no immediate plans for such action.
Washington has warned Ankara against a cross-border
operation, wary that such a move may destabilise a
relatively peaceful region in the conflict-torn
country.
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.
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
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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