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NATO calls on Turkey to show restraint against
Kurdish PKK rebels
12.6.2007 |
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June
12, 2007
ANKARA, June 12, -- NATO Secretary-General
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer Tuesday called on alliance
member Turkey to act with "a maximum of restraint"
in dealing with the problem of the safe haven that
Turkish Kurd rebels enjoy in northern Iraq.
The Turkish army is pushing for a cross-border
operation to clamp down on bases of the separatist
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in neighbouring
Kurdistan (northern Iraq), where, it charges, the
rebels obtain weapons and explosives for attacks on
Turkish targets across the border.
"NATO shows full solidarity (with Turkey)... and
hopes that a solution can be found with a maximum of
restraint," De Hoop Scheffer told reporters after
talks with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul here.
His appeal came hours before Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan was to convene senior government and
military officials to discuss measures against
rising violence by the PKK.
De Hoop Scheffer ruled out any NATO role in purging
northern Iraq of the PKK, listed as a terrorist
group by Ankara and much of the international
community.
He condemned PKK attacks as "a heinous form of
terrorism, which the NATO allies and I reject in the
strongest possible form."
De Hoop Scheffer and Gul also discussed Turkish
misgivings regarding closer operational cooperation
between NATO and the European Union, stemming from
Ankara's hostile ties with Cyprus, which is a member
of the EU but not NATO.
"We have to further discuss the NATO-EU
relationship," the NATO secretary-general said. "I
promised Mr. Gul that I'll try to be as constructive
as I can... to find a solution which is satisfactory
to all parties."
Turkey, a NATO member and a candidate for EU
membership, has been blocking Cypriot participation
in NATO-EU cooperation discussions.
It wants Brussels to persuade Cyprus to drop its
objections to Ankara's bid to become an associate
member of the European Defence Agency, which
promotes EU-wide defence industry policy.
Turkey refuses to endorse the internationally
recognised Greek Cypriot government of the
long-divided island. It is the only country to
recognise the breakaway Turkish Cypriot statelet in
the north of the island.
De Hoop Scheffer was to meet with Erdogan, chief of
general staff Yasar Buyukanit and Defence Minister
Vecdi Gonul before wrapping up his visit later
Tuesday.
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.
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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