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Turkey has plans to move against Iraq Kurds: Gul
29.6.2007 |
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June
29, 2007
ANKARA, June 29, -- Turkey has prepared
detailed plans for a cross-border operation into
Iraqi Kurdistan region against Kurdish PKK rebels
and will act if U.S. or Iraqi forces fail to tackle
them, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul was quoted as
saying on Friday.
Ankara has on many occasions threatened to send
troops into Kurdistan (northern Iraq) to hunt down
thousands of militants from the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) who use the region as a base
from which to attack targets inside Turkey.
"The military plans have been worked out in the
finest detail. The government knows these plans and
agrees with them," Gul told the Radikal newspaper in
an interview.
"If neither the Iraqi government nor the U.S.
occupying forces can do this (crush the PKK), we
will take our own decision and implement it," Gul
said.
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Turkey Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül |
Washington has urged Turkey, a NATO ally,
not to enter Kurdistan region
(northern Iraq), arguing such a move
would destabilise one of the few relatively peaceful
regions of the war-shattered country.
Iraq has also warned Turkey against making an
incursion.
Gul denied any difference of opinion between
Turkey's government and its powerful military on
Kurdistan 'northern Iraq'.
"A cross-border operation is a serious issue. State
institutions need to act in harmony on such issues,"
he said.
The head of the Turkish military repeated his call
this week for permission to go into northern Iraq,
saying it would not end the PKK problem but would
strike a big blow against the rebels.
More than 30,000 people have been killed in fighting
between Turkish security forces and the PKK since
the rebels launched their armed campaign for an
independent homeland in mainly Kurdish southeast
Turkey in 1984.
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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