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Italian FM says Turkey should avoid Iraqi Kurdistan
incursion, urges Baghdad to cooperate
13.6.2007 |
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June
13, 2007
ANKARA, Turkey, June 13, -- Italian Foreign
Minister Massimo D'Alema on Wednesday said Turkey
should avoid a cross-border offensive into Kurdistan
region (Iraq) and urged Baghdad to cooperate with
its neighbor against Iraq-based guerrillas.
"In general, I am against cross-border offensives,"
D'Alema told a joint news conference with Turkish
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. "It is of benefit to
no one to create an environment of more tensions."
In the face of intensified attacks by rebels of the
Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, the Turkish
military has voiced support for staging an incursion
into northern Iraq. The rebels on Tuesday declared a
unilateral cease-fire as Turkey came under
international pressure not to stage a cross-border
offensive.
D'Alema urged Baghdad to try to stop rebel
infiltrations into Turkey.
"We expect Iraq to cooperate with its neighbors in
the struggle against terrorism," D'Alema said. "It
is more useful and effective to seek dialogue and
cooperation in the struggle against terrorism."
The guerrillas have been fighting for autonomy in
the country's Kurdish-dominated southeast where
Kurds, who are not recognized as an official
minority, are only given limited rights to
Kurdish-language education and broadcasting.
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Italy's Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema speaks
during a joint news conference with his Turkish
counterpart Abdullah Gul, unseen, after talks in
Gul's residence in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, June
13, 2007 AP |
"Italy and the EU have always expected from Turkey
to respect human rights and grant basic rights to
all in the EU membership process, but certain
circles should not attempt to gain these rights
through illegal means and terrorism," D'Alema said.
D'Alema voiced support for Turkey's faltering EU
membership, saying Italy would make an effort to
ensure that negotiations begin in three policy
areas.
Turkey opened negotiations for EU membership in
October 2005. But the EU partially suspended the
process last December because of Ankara's refusal to
recognize EU member Cyprus.
AP
** 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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