|
Turkish army shells villages in Iraqi
Kurdistan
8.7.2007
|
|
|
|
July
8, 2007
Duhok, Kurdistan region (Iraq), -- Turkish
forces shelled two border villages in Kurdistan
region (northern Iraq) late on Friday, an Iraqi
border security source and a local official said on
Saturday, but there were no reports of casualties.
Tensions have soared along the mountainous border
region following a surge in attacks across Turkey
that Ankara has blamed on Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
militants based inside northern Iraq's autonomous
region of Kurdistan.
An Iraqi border force source said around 25 shells
were fired at Merta Shesh and Gale Psagha, villages
near the town of Zakho on Friday evening. A local
official in the region also said dozens of shells
had been fired at the area.
PKK took up arms for self-rule in the country's
mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey. More than 37,000
Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK guerrillas have
been killed since 1984.
Reuters | Agencies
** 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
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 