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PKK: Diyarbakir bomb was not planned by
our movement, apologised
8.1.2008
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PKK
says this attack was not planned centrally by our
movement,
apologised over Diyarbakir bomb attack
January
8, 2008
ANKARA, -- The Turkey's Kurdish rebel PKK
group apologised Tuesday for a deadly
car bomb attack
in Turkey's main Kurdish city last week, blaming it
on militants acting on their own, a news agency
close to it reported.
"This attack was not planned centrally by our
movement... We regret the loss of civilian life and
apologise to our people," the Firat news agency
quoted Bozan Tekin,www.ekurd.net
a senior member of the
Turkey's outlawed separatist Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK), as saying.
"According to our investigation, it was an act by
independent, local (Kurdish) units in retaliation to
attacks against the Kurdish people... It targeted a
vehicle carrying military officers," Tekin said.
The explosives-laden car was detonated by remote
control Thursday in the centre of Diyarbakir, the
largest city of the Kurdish-majority southeast, as
an army vehicle carrying some 50 soldiers was
passing by.
Six people, among them five high school students
attending classes at a nearby private school, were
killed and about 70 others, including some 30
military personnel, were injured.
The PKK said Monday a group of its militants "acting
on their own" could be responsible for the attack.
Turkish officials have blamed the PKK for the
bombing.
Army chief Yasar Buyukanit said the blast was a sign
of "panic" in PKK ranks following Turkish air raids
on the group's bases in neighbouring Kurdistan
region in northern Iraq, which the rebels use as a
springboard for cross-border attacks inside Turkey.
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.
The army has confirmed three air strikes conducted
with US intelligence assistance against the PKK in
Iraq since December 16, which it said killed at
least 150 militants and destroyed more than 200 PKK
positions.
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 PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara, US
and EU.
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, 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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