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Kurdistan region is capable of protecting the Iraqi
borders with Turkey
2.6.2007 |
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June
2, 2007
Erbil, Kurdistan region (Iraq), -- An Iraqi
Kurdistan official said the Kurdish regions are
capable of protecting the Iraqi borders with Turkey,
stressing that Baghdad is fiercely opposed to a
military intervention by Ankara in the country's
north.
Tariq Johar, an advisor to the speaker of Iraqi
Kurdistan's parliament, said in an exclusive
interview with Iranian Alalam TV that a Turkish
delegation visited Baghdad earlier to win support
for a military operation against Kurdish militant
groups in Kurdistan (northern Iraq).
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Kurdish MP Tariq Johar |
"Unlike in Turkey where the military officials and
the ruling elite disagree on certain state affairs,
the Iraqi Kurdistan and the central government in
Baghdad speak with one voice," he said.
Expressing regret over Turkey's military threats,
the Kurdish official accused Ankara of having "ill
intentions" towards Iraqi Kurds.
"It seems that Turkey is up to expanding its
internal crisis beyond its borders by issuing
military threats against Iraqi Kurds," Johar added.
He said negotiations would be the best way to
resolve issues.
Turkey's top generals have said the country's army
-- which has been massing troops on the border with
Kurdistan region (Iraq) -- was prepared to attack
separatist Kurdish PKK guerrillas in a cross-border
offensive.
Turkey last carried out a major incursion into
Kurdistan-Iraq too a decade ago, before the US-led
liberation that toppled Saddam Hussein.
More than 37,000 Turkish soldiers and PKK guerrillas
have been killed since 1984 when the PKK took up
arms for self-rule in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey.
Alalam ir
** 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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