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Three PKK Kurdish rebels, Turkish guard killed in
southeast Turkey
10.6.2007 |
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June
10, 2007
DIYARBAKIR, Kurdish Southeastern region of
Turkey, -- Three Kurdish separatist rebels and one
pro-government guard were killed on Sunday in a
clash in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast region,
security officials said.
The clash occurred in Diyarbakir province as
security forces step up an offensive against rebels
of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) across
the southeast region.
The pro-government official killed was a "village
guard", who help troops in the fight against the PKK.
The state Anatolian news agency said the guard was a
senior member of the local administration,
representing the Turkish nationalist MHP.
Violence has escalated recently as PKK fighters
enter Turkey from mountain bases in nearby northern
Iraq. Turkey has beefed up its forces along the
border, sparking talk of a possible army incursion
into Iraq to hit the PKK bases.
On Saturday, three soldiers, including two officers,
were killed when rebels remotely detonated a
landmine in Sirnak province close to the Iraqi
border.
The rising tide of violence is putting more pressure
on Turkey's government, which faces a challenge from
nationalist parties like the MHP in July national
elections, to crack down harder on the Kurdish
rebels.
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.
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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