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Once again US military warns Turkey off Iraqi
Kurdistan raid
4.7.2007 |
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July
4, 2007
WASHINGTON, -- The US military warned Turkey
Tuesday against destabilizing Kurdistan (northern
Iraq) by carrying out a threatened cross-border raid
on Kurdish rebels.
The US armed forces have a "great relationship with
the military of Turkey," said Brigadier General
Perry Wiggins, deputy director for operations of the
Pentagon's Joint Staff.
But he cautioned: "As the secretary of defense
(Robert Gates) has said, any disruption up in
northern Iraq would not be helpful at this time."
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul said Friday
his country had drawn up plans for an eventual
incursion into neighboring Kurdistan region
(northern Iraq) to pursue rebels of the Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) taking refuge there.
Gul warned that Turkey would activate its plans if
the Iraqi authorities or the United States failed to
curb the PKK, which is listed as a terror
organization by both Ankara and Washington.
"Unfortunately, the level of cooperation by the
United States is below our expectations," he said in
remarks published by the Radikal daily.
Army chief Yasar Buyukanit has long been calling for
a strike against PKK rebels based in Kurdistan
(northern Iraq) where, Turkey says, the PKK enjoys
free movement and obtains arms and explosives for
attacks on its soil.
But US officials, fearful of havoc in the only part
of Iraq that has enjoyed relative calm, are anxious
to forestall any Turkish intervention.
"We hope there is no unilateral military action
taken on the other side of the Iraqi border," Gates
said on June 3.
On June 18, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
assured Ankara that the United States and Iraq were
against any "terrorist" actions conducted from Iraqi
territory against Turkey.
On June 30,
China has officially
announced its objection to a possible
cross-border operation that may be launched by
Turkey into neighboring
Kurdistan region (Iraq) in order to eliminate the
presence of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
based in the country's northern region.
Kurdistan region president Massoud Barzani
said on Sunday,
"I hope that Turkey doesn't mean these threats
seriously because that would be a catastrophe for
the entire region," according to a
German transcript of the interview.
Barzani said Turkey would have nothing to fear from
an independent Kurdish entity within Iraq, Deutsche
Welle said in a paraphrase of other comments the
Kurdish leader had made.
"We appeal to Turkey to turn to the language of
dialogue instead of threats. We're ready for
compromise and dialogue."
AFP | DW
** 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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