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Two soldiers killed in violence in eastern Turkey
13.7.2007 |
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July
13, 2007
DIYARBAKIR, Kurdish Southeastern region of
Turkey, -- Two Turkish soldiers died in fresh
violence blamed on armed Kurdish PKK rebels in the
east of the country, officials said Friday.
One soldier was killed in a clash late Thursday
between Turkish troops and Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK) rebels in Bingol province, security sources
said.
A second soldier was killed, and another wounded, in
a land mine explosion late Thursday in the
neighbouring Erzincan province, the local governor's
office said.
The mine was believed to have been planted by PKK
rebels.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by
Ankara and much of the international community,
notably stepped up violence this year.
The army has launched a large-scale operation
against the group in eastern and southeastern Turkey
and massed troops on the border with Iraqi
Kurdistan, where the militants take refuge.
The PKK took up arms for self-rule in Turkey's
mainly Kurdish east and southeast in 1984. The
conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.
AFP
** 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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