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U.S., Turkey to hold talks on fighting
against Kurdish PKK rebels 2.1.2008
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January 2, 2008
ANKARA, Turkey, -- The presidents of Turkey
and the United States will meet in Washington Jan. 8
to discuss further cooperation in the fight against
the Turkey's outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK),
Turkish Daily News reported on Wednesday.
President Abdullah Gul will visit his American
counterpart George W. Bush on Jan. 8 in a four-day
official visit that will mark the first presidential
meeting since former Turkish President Suleyman
Demirel's trip in 1996.
"It is no doubt that Gul's visit will primarily
focus on the fight against terrorism," a Turkish
diplomat was quoted as saying.
The United States has started to provide Turkey with
real-time intelligence on the PKK's camps and
mobility in Kurdistan region in 'northern Iraq', a
crucial asset for eliminating the PKK rebels, as a
result of a meeting between Bush and Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Nov. 5 last year.
"Obviously President Gul's visit to the White House
will reconfirm the importance attached to our
bilateral ties.www.ekurd.net
We are satisfied with
the new intelligence sharing system and looking
forward to deepening our cooperation," the diplomat
said.
In three separate operations since Dec. 16 last
year, Turkish warplanes bombed the PKK's hideouts in
Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' with the helpof
intelligence provided by U.S. military personnel.
The Turkish military has recently launched several
cross-border attacks to fight against separatist PKK
rebels, who use Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' as a
launch pad for attacks against Turkey.
Turkey has massed up to 100,000 soldiers in its
southeast near the Iraqi Kurdistan border, and in
October the Ankara government secured a one-year
parliamentary authorisation for cross-border
military action to hunt down Turkish Kurdish PKK
rebels.
Iraqi Kurdistan politician says, Turkey is using
Turkey's 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',www.ekurd.net
Turkey fears this could
fan separatism among its own large Kurdish
population in southeast Turkey.
Over 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. 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, the party also demanded
an end to ethnic discrimination in Turkish laws and
constitution against Kurds, granting them full
political freedoms.
The group is listed as a "terrorist" organisation by
Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
Xinhua
**
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, 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.
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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