|
PKK commander warns Turkey of 'military disaster'
if troops cross into Iraqi Kurdistan
18.6.2007 |
|
|
|
Kurdish rebel leader warns Turkey against Iraqi
Kurdistan incursion
June
18, 2007
LONDON, -- A senior commander of the
separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) warned the
Turkish government against sending its military
forces into Kurdistan region (northern Iraq), in an
interview published Monday.
Speaking to The Guardian daily from a hideout in the
Qandil mountains on the Iraq-Iran border, Cemil
Bayik said that while his units were not seeking a
fight, the Turkish army faced "a political and
military disaster" if it crosses into Iraqi
Kurdistan as part of an offensive against the PKK.
A Turkish incursion into Iraq could become "a
quagmire for them (the Turkish army) and create
space for Iran to interfere in Iraq also," Bayik
told the newspaper.
Bayik also accused the Turkish army's chief of
staff, General Yasar Buyukanit, of using the PKK's
presence in northern Iraq as a reason to "annihilate
Kurdishness."
"General Buyukanit wants everyone to be a happy
Turk. And those who don't agree he brands as a
traitor. He wants first to smash the Kurdish
regional government in Iraq," Bayik said.
"He wants second to ruin any chances of a referendum
being held on Kirkuk, and the PKK issue is really
only third on his list of priorities."
Bayik also contested the classification of the PKK
as a terrorist organisation, insisting the group
condemned attacks on civilians, and were "freedom
fighters."
"We are not looking for independence, we are not
even looking for federalism like the Iraqi Kurds
have. The solution lies in granting the Kurds of
Turkey language and cultural rights and freedom of
speech," he said.
He added that he would work to better convince the
international community of his group's peaceful
commitment to resolving the Kurdish question in
Turkey.
More than 37,000 Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas have been killed since 1984 when the PKK
took up arms for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast of Turkey.
PKK, classified as a terror organisation by Turkey,
the United States and the European Union
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
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 