|
Kurdish PKK official warns Iraqi MP Maliki
of military action against Kurds
10.8.2007
|
|
|
|
August
10, 2007
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan region (Iraq), -- An
official in the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) warned
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of the "grave
consequences" of any joint military action with the
Turkish government against the PKK Kurdish party.
"Any possible joint attack by Maliki and Turkey
against the party will not serve his government and
might even cause its demise," Abdul-Rahman al-Jadirji,
the official in charge of the PKK's foreign
relations department, told VOI.
He said, "hostile" acts against the PKK would be
deemed "hostile" against all Kurds.
Jadirji considered Maliki's statements against the
PKK, or Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan in Kurdish, as
"antagonistic."
"Maliki should have worked on solving the Kurdish
issue in Turkey via peaceful means and democratic
dialogue," Jadirji emphasized, referring to Iraqi
Kurd politicians' rejection of Maliki's agreement
with the Turkish government, with the view that he (Maliki)
"does not represent the position of the Iraqi
Kurdistan region's government."
Mahmoud Othman, a member of parliament from the
Kurdistan Coalition (KC), the second largest bloc in
the Iraqi parliament with 55 seats, commenting on a
recent agreement between Maliki and the Ankara
government during his visit to Turkey, said "we
flatly reject any military operation targeting PKK
inside the Kurdistan region's territories and this
is what we agreed on with Maliki before his
departure for Turkey."
The PKK is a Turkish Kurdish party that is active in
southern Turkey and Iran. It takes the mountainous
areas in the Iraqi Kurdistan region as its
stronghold. PKK took up arms for a Kurdish homeland
in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.
Turkey is home to over 25 million ethnic Kurds
Its leader Abdullah Ocalan, alias Abo, has been
imprisoned in Turkish jails for 10 years now on
charges of "leading an outlawed party."
VOI **
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.
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.
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
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 