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Turkey extends duration of security zones
to stem Kurdish PKK rebels
8.9.2007 |
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September 8, 2007
ANKARA, -- The Turkish army Friday said it
had extended the duration of three high-security
zones in the country's southeast by three months as
part of measures to fight Kurdish separatist PKK
rebels.
The zones -- where civilians are barred -- cover
uninhabited mountainous regions in the provinces of
Siirt, Sirnak and Hakkari, close to the border with
Iraq, where the rebels have bases.
They were established on June 9 initially for a
three-month period.
In Friday's statement, the general staff said that
the zones would also remain in force from September
10 until December 10.
Turkey says thousands of rebels from the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) use bases in the
Kurdish-held autonomous north of Iraq as a
springboard for attacks on Turkish targets across
the border.
The rebels have significantly stepped up their
attacks this year. In response, the Turkish army has
reinforced its presence in the southeast and along
the Iraqi border.
More than 37,000 Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas have been killed since 1984 when the PKK
took up arms for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast of Turkey. Turkey is home to over
25 million ethnic Kurds.
The United States and the European Union, like
Turkey, class the PKK as a "terrorist organisation"
Turkey has long pressed the United States and Iraq
to wipe out the PKK's presence in northern Iraq and
has threatened to launch a cross-border operation if
they fail to do so, a move opposed by both the
United States and Iraq.
AFP
**
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
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