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Turkey's Kurdish party probed over
chemical weapons claims 15.9.2007 |
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September 15, 2007
ANKARA, -- Turkey's chief prosecutor launched
a probe Friday against the country's main Kurdish
party for claiming that the army used chemical
weapons against separatist Kurdish rebels, Anatolia
news agency said.
The investigation, led by the office of prosecutor
Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, could lead to sanctions
against the Democratic Society Party (DTP) and a
possible ban, according to media reports.
The probe follows a written statement issued by the
DTP last month alleging that soldiers used chemical
weapons against rebels from the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) during a security operation in
Turkey's southeast.
The army said at the time that two soldiers and 10
PKK rebels were killed in the August 25 operation in
Sirnak province, near the border with Iraqi
Kurdistan and Syria.
In the statement, the DTP said officials refused to
hand the bodies of the dead rebels to their
families, adding that animals which had grazed in
the area of the clash had died of poisoning.
"These give weight to claims that chemical weapons
were used in the operation," the party statement
said.
The army categorically denied the DTP's accusations.
Turkey has banned several Kurdish parties for
alleged links with the PKK, which has been fighting
since 1984 for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast. The bloody conflict has claimed
more than 37,000 lives.
The DTP, set up in 2005, has also had its fair share
of trouble with the Turkish judiciary.
Scores of its members have been prosecuted on
separatism charges and the party has come under fire
for refusing to condemn the PKK as a terrorist
group, a label endorsed by Turkey and much of the
international community.
Twenty-four DTP members were elected to parliament
in July's general elections, marking a comeback for
militant Kurdish politicians after a 13-year
absence.
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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