|
Iraqi Kurds cope with Turkish threat
15.6.2007 |
|
|
|
June
15, 2007
MEZDORI, Kurdistan-Iraq,-- In the shadow of
the Turkish border, Kurdish guerrillas roam among
the oak trees, brandishing automatic weapons and
grenades. An anti-aircraft gun stands on a nearby
hill, hidden in the forest.
Turkey has massed thousands of troops along the
border and has shelled Iraqi Kurdistan territory as
part of its campaign against the Kurdistan Workers'
Party, or PKK, which stages cross-border attacks
from sanctuaries here.
The Turks have also threatened to send their troops
across the border if the U.S. and Iraq cannot rein
in the PKK rebels, who have been fighting for
autonomy for Turkish Kurds for more than two
decades.
Those threats and periodic shelling from the Turkish
side have raised fears among Iraqi Kurds who live in
the remote farming villages in Kurdistan region
(northern Iraq)
Those who can have left the area for safety further
south, returning from time to time to check on their
property. Others fear for the future — even if a
threatened Turkish invasion never comes to pass.
Ramadan Mohammed, 58, worries that he won't be able
to harvest his crops of apples, peaches and apricots
if the shelling persists.
Mohammed and his 12 family members left his village
of Mezdori for the safety of Dahuk, 90 kilometers
(55 miles) to the south.
Every day, he drives from Dahuk to Mezdori to check
on his home and orchards, which have already
suffered damage.
"I was saddened by the destruction of my family's
orchard," he said.
In another border village, Kisset, Abdul-Rahman Taha
shows a visitor what he says are the effects of
recent shelling - several fruit trees shattered by
Turkish shells.
"Are the trees guilty," he asks. "In other
countries, the government spends a lot of money
while the Turkish army is working hard to destroy
nature."
If the villagers harbor ill-feelings against the PKK
rebels, they keep it to themselves. Many Iraqi Kurds
feel a kinship to fellow Kurds in Turkey, Iran and
Syria, who have not achieved the same degree of
self-rule as those in Kurdistan region of Iraq.
Mohammed said he considers Turkey "our enemy" but
added that he's confident the Turks will not invade
Iraq because it "would create troubles inside
Turkey."
Such a move would also put Turkey on a collision
course with the United States, its closest ally, and
the European Union, which the Turkish government
would like to join.
Although the U.S. has about 150,000 troops in Iraq,
those troops have their hands full against Sunni and
Shiite extremists far to the south.
The Iraqis — not the Americans — are responsible for
security in the Kurdish north,
A PKK commander in the area told AP that Turkish
saber-rattling is aimed at distracting attention
from "repression practiced on Kurds inside Turkey."
The commander gave his name as Azad Kurdistani — or
"Kurdish freedom." The United States and the EU
consider the PKK a terrorist organization.
"We do not believe there will be an immiment,
large-scale Turkish attack against Kurdistan," he
said, referring to the three-province, Kurdish
self-ruled area of Kurdistan (northern Iraq).
"Even if such an attack happens, we have the
resources and the means to stop it," he added.
In the meantime, there is little the Kurdish
villagers here in the north can do except hope for
an easing of the standoff.
"I'm supposed to be used to the sound of artillery,"
said Pawar Fawazi, 11. "But I still fear it."
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
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 