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Iraqi PM to visit Turkey next week to
discuss Kurdish PKK rebels
2.8.2007
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August 2, 2007
BAGHDAD,-- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
will visit Turkey next week to discuss the safe
haven that separatist Turkish Kurd PKK rebels enjoy
in Iraqi Kurdistan region (north-Iraq) of his
country, officials said here Wednesday.
Maliki will visit at the invitation of Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, foreign ministry
spokesman Levent Bilman told reporters.
"All aspects of bilateral ties, primarily security
issues, will be discussed," he said.
Turkey has threatened military action in
neighbouring northern Iraq to hit camps of the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a
terrorist organisation by Ankara and much of the
international community, if Iraq and the United
States fail to curb the rebels.
Ankara says the group, which stepped up its attacks
in Turkey this year, enjoys free movement in
northern Iraq, where it obtains weapons and
explosives. |
Iraqi Prime minister Jawad Nuri al-Maliki |
Last month, Turkey accused the forces of Massoud
Barzani, the president of autonomous Kurdistan
region (Iraq), of providing the PKK with weapons,
possibly including ammunition received from the
United States.
Washington has warned Ankara against a cross-border
operation, wary that such a move may destabilise a
relatively peaceful part of Iraq and fuel tensions
between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds, a staunch US
ally.
Officially, Turkey does not recognise the regional
government of Kurdistan led by president Massoud
Barzani.
Kurdish politician says, Turkey is using a Kurdish
separatist PKK rebel group as an excuse to invade
Kurdistan region (Iraq) to prevent the establishment
of Kurdistan state in the Kurdish autonomous region
in (northern Iraq). Ankara is anxious to prevent the
emergence of a Kurdish state in Kurdistan region
(northern Iraq), fearing this could fan separatism
among its own large Kurdish population in southeast
Turkey .
The PKK took up arms for Kurdish self-rule in
southeast Turkey 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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