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Syria frees 6 Kurds over Turkey's threat
to strike Kurdish PKK rebels
2.1.2008 |
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Syria frees 6 Kurds detained for 2 months over
Turkey's threat to strike Kurdish PKK rebels
January 2, 2008
Al-Hasaka, Syrian Kurdistan,-- Syria has
released six Kurds detained for nearly two months
over protests against Turkey's threat to strike
Turkish Kurdish PKK rebels in Kurdistan region
'northern Iraq', a human rights group said Tuesday.
The six were ordered released Monday by a criminal
court in the province of al-Hasaka, 440 miles
northeast of Damascus, the National Organization for
Human Rights in Syria, or NOHR, said in a statement.
There was no immediate confirmation from Syrian
officials, who usually do not comment on domestic
security matters, including detention and release of
political activists.
The six were detained, along with 20 other Kurds on
Nov. 2 for participating in a sit-in protest against
Turkey's plans to attack Kurdish rebels in Kurdistan
'northern Iraq' and also to demand the release of
Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan held in Turkey.
Ocalan, captured by Turkey in 1999 and sentenced to
life in prison, is the leader of the Kurdistan
Workers' Party, or PKK, which has been fighting for
autonomy in southeast Turkey since the mid-1980s,www.ekurd.net
in a conflict that has
left thousands of people dead. The PKK fighters have
bases in Kurdistan region in 'northern Iraq'.
NOHR welcomed the release of the six and called on
Syrian authorities to free the other 20, saying that
the health of some detainees was critical.
It also called for the release of seven members of
the so-called "Damascus Declaration," held in prison
since early December.
The declaration was signed in 2005 by about 500
Syrian and Lebanese intellectuals who urged the
Syrian government to improve ties with neighboring
Lebanon, a sensitive issue in Syria.
Since taking office in 2000,www.ekurd.net
Syrian President Bashar
Assad has released hundreds of political prisoners,
but also clamped down on pro-democracy activists,
showing there are limits to the dissent he is
willing to tolerate.
Since 1984 the PKK
took up arms for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast of Turkey. A
large Turkey's Kurdish community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey.
The PKK demanded Turkey's recognition of the Kurds'
identity in its constitution and of their language
as a native language along with Turkish in the
country's Kurdish areas,www.ekurd.net
the party also demanded
an end to ethnic discrimination in Turkish laws and
constitution against Kurds, granting them full
political freedoms.
AP
** Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria
making up 10% of the country's population i.e. about
two million.
Kurds in Syria often speak Kurdish in public,
unless all those present do not. Kurdish human
rights activists are mistreated and persecuted. No
political parties are allowed for any group, Kurdish
or otherwise.
Suppression of ethnic identity of
Kurds in Syria include: various bans on the use of
the Kurdish language; refusal to register children
with Kurdish names; replacement of Kurdish place
names with new names in Arabic; prohibition of
businesses that do not have Arabic names; not
permitting Kurdish private schools; and the
prohibition of books and other materials written in
Kurdish.
More about Kurds in Syria - (Kurdistan-Syria)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
** Since 1991, the Kurds of Iraq achieved self-rule
in part of the country. Today's teenagers are the
first generation to grow up under Kurdish rule. In
the new Iraqi Constitution, it is referred to as
Kurdistan region. Kurdistan region has all the
trappings of an independent state -- its own
constitution, its own parliament, its own flag, its
own army, its own border, its own border patrol, its
own national anthem, its own education system, its
own International airports, even its own stamp inked
into the passports of visitors.
** 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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