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Turkey to submit report to U.N. on Iraqi Kurdistan
Region
4.6.2007 |
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June
4, 2007
ANKARA, -- Turkey will deliver a report to
the United Nations this week spelling out its
concerns about militant Kurdish separatists in
Kurdistan region (northern Iraq) and reaffirming its
legal right to take action against them, an official
said on Monday.
The news comes as Turkey reinforces its troops along
the border with Iraq and the powerful army General
Staff stresses its readiness for a cross-border
operation to crush guerrillas of the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
"Diplomacy first," said Monday's Sabah newspaper
headline, saying the U.N. move prepared the legal
and diplomatic ground for the possible military
operation, which has already sparked alarm in the
United States, Turkey's NATO ally.
The Foreign Ministry official told Reuters Turkey's
permanent U.N. representative, Baki Ilkin, would
hold talks with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
this week.
"The terrorism incidents will be explained. A report
will be presented concerning the explosives and
weapons we have determined are coming (into Turkey)
from northern Iraq," the official said.
"More cooperation from the United Nations is
requested on this matter," he added. The official
declined to comment on the possibility of military
action in Kurdistan (northern Iraq).
Ankara has long urged U.S. and Iraqi government
forces to crack down on an estimated 4,000 PKK
guerrillas who use the mountains of Kurdistan
(northern Iraq) as a springboard to attack military
and civilian targets inside Turkey.
But U.S. troops, battling an Arab insurgency in
central and southern Iraq, are reluctant to
intervene in the relatively peaceful, mainly Kurdish
north of the country.
Turkey insists it has the right under international
law to send troops into Iraq in self-defense if need
be. Parliament must approve any such action and the
government has said no plans are currently under
consideration.
Parliament went into recess on Sunday ahead of July
22 elections, though the government could recall it
at any time if it decided to send troops into Iraq.
On Sunday, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged
Turkey against using military force against the PKK
in Iraq.
Iraq's prime minister also urged Ankara over the
weekend to tone down its threats of military
intervention.
The Iraq situation has fuelled a strong rise in
nationalism and anti-American sentiment in Turkey
ahead of the elections.
Reuters
** 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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