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Turkish PM says Iraqi Kurdistan cross-border
operation on table
20.6.2007 |
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June
20, 2007
AGRI, Turkey,-- Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip
Erdogan told Reuters his government would authorize
a military cross-border operation into Kurdistan
region (northern Iraq) to crack down on Kurdish PKK
rebels if required.
"We are continuing discussions with the armed
forces. If needed we will take the necessary steps
(for a cross-border operation) because we cannot
allow the PKK any longer to carry out attacks,"
Erdogan said in an interview aboard his plane during
campaigning in eastern Turkey late on Tuesday.
Ankara, a key U.S. ally in NATO, wants Iraqi
authorities and the United States to crack down on
the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which
attacks targets inside Turkey from bases in
mountainous, from autonomous region of Kurdistan
(northern Iraq).
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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan |
Asked whether he believed Iraqi and U.S. authorities
would honor promises to combat the PKK, Erdogan --
speaking via an interpreter -- gave a lukewarm
response: "I wish to remain positive."
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.
The United States and the European Union, like
Turkey, class the PKK as a "terrorist organisation"
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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