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Turkish army kills eight Kurdish PKK rebels
28.6.2007 |
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June
28, 2007
DIYARBAKIR, Kurdish Southeastern region of
Turkey, -- Eight Kurdish rebels were killed
Wednesday in a major security sweep in Turkey's
restive southeast, local security sources said.
The clashes occurred in a mountainous area in the
province of Sirnak, near the border with Iraq, as
part of a continuing operation against the Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK), the sources said.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and
much of the international community, has stepped up
its attacks this year in its fight for self-rule in
Turkey's mainly Kurdish east and southeast.
The army has launched a large-scale crackdown
against the group in these areas and amassed troops
on the border with Iraq, where the militants take
refuge.
Army chief General Yasar Buyukanit insisted
Wednesday on the need for a military incursion into
Kurdistan region (northern Iraq) to crack down on
PKK bases there, but said he needed the government's
green light to do so.
Turkey also accuses Iraqi Kurds of tolerating and
even supporting the PKK.
The government has not ruled out an incursion into
Iraq, but has said it will focus on fighting the PKK
inside Turkey and seek dialogue with Baghdad to
resolve the problem of the safe haven the rebels
enjoy in the north.
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.
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
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