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Turkey: ROJ TV comments spark
investigation into Diyarbakir's mayor
11.7.2007 |
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July
11, 2007
DIYARBAKIR, Kurdish Southeastern region of
Turkey, -- An investigation has been launched
against the mayors of Diyarbakir and Sirnak, Osman
Baydemir and Ahmet Ertak, for Kurdish PKK rebels
propaganda in interviews given on television.
Baydemir is accused of making statements in support
of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in an
interview he gave
to Kurdish ROJ TV
which broadcasts out of Denmark. He is claimed to
have described the PKK as “armed opposition.” Turkey
says Roj TV is a PKK mouthpiece and has asked for it
to be shut down. Denmark's failure to do so has
caused tension between the two countries.
Sirnak Mayor Ertak is accused of calling for support
to be given to the PKK in an interview he gave to
France-24 news channel. He later denied making such
a comment.
Ertak said he spoke in Kurdish to the French channel
and that his statements were mistranslated. He
denied saying, "The PKK supports Kurds and we
support it. The PKK needs to be supported."
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Osman Baydemir, mayor of the Kurdish city of
Diyarbakir |
Ertak said he would never say such a thing, accusing
the channel of tampering with his comments. Frederic
Helbert, the interviewer, told the Dogan News Agency
that Ertak's statements surprised him, arguing that
the translations were correct.
Two inspectors from the Interior Ministry will
investigate the actions of the two mayors.
PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) 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.
The United States and the European Union, like
Turkey, class the PKK as a "terrorist organisation"
turkishdailynews com.tr | hurriyet
com.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)
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