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Iraq calls on Turkey to stop shelling
Kurdistan border towns
19.7.2007
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July
19, 2007
BAGHDAD, -- The Iraqi government said
Wednesday that Turkish artillery and warplanes
bombarded areas
of Kurdistan (northern Iraq) and called on Turkey to
stop military operations and resort to dialogue.
The claim occurred amid rising tension and Turkish
threats to strike bases of the Kurdistan Workers
Party or PKK, which has been launching attacks
against targets in Turkey from sanctuaries in Iraq.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said that the
bombardment struck areas of the northern Kurdish
province of Duhok.
Col. Hussein Kamal said about 250 shells were fired
into Iraq from Turkey. He added that there were no
casualties on the Iraqi side of the border.
"We have received reports that the Turkish
government and the Turkish army have bombed border
villages. The Iraqi government regrets the Turkish
military operations of artillery and warplanes
bombing against border cities and towns," al-Dabbagh
said.
"The Iraqi government calls for ceasing these
operations and resorting to dialogue," he said,
insisting that Iraq wants "good relations with
Turkey."
Last week, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari
said Turkey had massed
140,000 soldiers along the
border -- a figure the U.S. disputed. Zebari said
troop levels in the region were often increased
during the spring and summer in response to
increased activity by PKK.
U.S. officials cast doubt on the figure.
Turkish officials have repeatedly said they are
considering military operations against the PKK in
Iraqi autonomous region of Kurdistan, a move that
the U.S. fears would cause further instability.
Al-Dabbagh said the Iraqi government is ready either
for bilateral talks or three-way talks that will
include the U.S. He added that the PKK matter isn't
new but years-old.
"We have said before that we will not allow Iraq to
become a launching pad for operations against Turkey
or any other country," al-Dabbagh said.
Washington says it is working with Turkey to combat
the PKK but that it is focused on combating
insurgents opposing U.S. forces.
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.
AP
** Ankara is anxious to prevent the emergence of a
Kurdish state in Kurdistan region (northern Iraq),
fearing this could fan separatism among its own
large Kurdish population in southeast Turkey .
Kurdish politician says, Turkey is using a Kurdish
separatist PKK rebel group as an excuse to invade
Kurdistan region (Iraq) to prevent the establishment
of Kurdistan state in the Kurdish autonomous region
in (northern Iraq).
** 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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