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Turk army chief reaffirms need for Iraqi Kurdistan
incursion
27.6.2007 |
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June
27, 2007
ANKARA, -- The head of Turkey's powerful
armed forces reaffirmed on Wednesday his view that a
cross-border operation into Kurdistan (northern
Iraq) was needed to crush Kurdish rebels based
there.
His comments pile more pressure on Turkey's
government to allow a military operation, just weeks
before parliamentary polls in which security and
terrorism issues will loom large.
The staunchly secular military dislikes the
Islamist-rooted ruling AK Party and political
analysts say the generals are trying to portray it
as weak on terrorism. AK, which denies any Islamist
agenda, is widely expected to win re-election in
July.
"I have said (in April) that we need a cross-border
operation and that this would bring benefits. I
repeat this view now," General Yasar Buyukanit told
a news conference shown live on Turkish television.
But he stressed the need to act within the law in
tackling the security threat.
Turkey's parliament, now in recess ahead of the July
22 elections, would have to reconvene to authorise
any serious cross-border military operation.
"We have to conduct our fight on a legal basis. We
cannot go beyond the laws," he said in Isparta,
southwest Turkey.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told Reuters last week
that Ankara would take military action if necessary.
More than 30,000 people have been killed in fighting
between security forces and rebels of the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) since the group
launched its armed campaign for an ethnic homeland
in the mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey in 1984.
Casualties have risen sharply in recent months as
PKK fighters hiding in northern Iraq cross the
mountainous border into Turkey to attack security
and civilian targets.
HELPING MILITANTS
The head of Turkey's land forces, General Ilker
Basbug, told the news conference there were between
2,800 and 3,100 PKK rebels based in northern Iraq.
Buyukanit repeated his accusation that PKK rebels
were receiving support from some foreign countries,
including nominal allies of NATO-member Turkey.
He did not name these countries, but Ankara has
criticised the United States for failing to crack
down on the PKK in Iraq.
Turkey has also accused some European countries
including Belgium and Denmark of providing help to
the militants.
Buyukanit said there were many "collaborators" in
Turkish towns and villages providing support to the
PKK, which is considered a terrorist organisation by
Turkey, the EU and the United States. But he added
that the problem of Kurdish separatism could not be
solved by purely military means.
"Terrorism is multi-dimensional. Apart from the
armed struggle, it has to be combated in other ways
too," he said, citing economic and social factors.
Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast region is dogged
by poverty, high unemployment, poor education and
low investment. The armed conflict has hampered the
region's economic progress.
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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