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Turkey Protests to Greece over Kurdistan Map
9.7.2007 |
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July
9, 2007
ANKARA, Turkey, -- Turkey's Foreign Ministry
has protested to Greece over a map that showed
Turkey's southeastern region as part of the 'Free
Kurdistan' state, the Turkish daily Zaman reported.
The map was displayed late Friday in Athens during a
conference organized by the Greek army's General
Staff. The Greek ambassador to Ankara George
Yennimatas was summoned to the Foreign Ministry,
where Turkish diplomats expressed their concerns
over the incident.
Turkey's southeastern region is dominated by a
Kurdish population. It is also bordering the
autonomous Iraqi district of Kurdistan, where many
members of the PKK believed are taking refuge. PKK
took up arms for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast of Turkey..
According to Turkish daily News Colonel Şirin
immediately protested to professor Mazis and the
organizers of the seminar and left the hall, daily
Hürriyet reported yesterday.
Yorgo Yenimatas, Greece's Ambassador to Ankara was
summoned to the Foreign Ministry Saturday and a
protest was made by Haydar Berk, undersecretary of
the ministry over the incident. Berk asked Yenimatas
that such incidents not be repeated in the future
and reminded him of Turkey's eagerness to continue
good relations with Greece.
Last weekend Turkey's Foreign Minister 'Abdullah Gul
told reporters the government and the army had
already finalized their plan to attack the PKK
strongholds in Iraq.
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.
TodayZaman com | Turkishdailynews co.tr
** 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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