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US vows to help Turkey confront Kurdish
PKK rebels
9.1.2008
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January
9, 2008
WASHINGTON, -- The United States on Tuesday
vowed to help Turkey battle Turkey's Kurdish PKK
fighters based in Iraq, but urged its NATO ally to
work with Baghdad on a "long-term political
solution" to end the 20-year conflict.
US President George W. Bush told Turkish President
Abdullah Gul after talks at the White House that
Washington would keep helping Ankara's military
against their "common enemy," rebels of the Turkey's
outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
"It's an enemy to Turkey; it's an enemy to Iraq; and
it's an enemy to people who want to live in peace,"
said Bush.www.ekurd.net
"The United States,
along with Turkey, are confronting these folks. And
we will continue to confront them."
"I would like to thank the president for his
determination, as well, in this regard," Gul said
through an interpreter during a joint public
appearance.
The White House also encouraged Gul's government to
pursue talks with leaders in Iraq's Kurdish northern
region and leaders in Baghdad to forge a "long-term
political solution" to end the PKK's two-decade
campaign. |
President Bush and Turkish President Abdullah Gul,
left, shake hands after they made statements,
Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008, outside of the Oval Office of
the White House in Washington AP |
"This has been going on for so long that it's time
to put a stop to it," said spokeswoman Dana Perino,
who urged Gul to work with Iraq's President Jalal
Talabani -- himself a Kurd -- and Prime Minister
Nuri al-Maliki.
Asked whether Washington was proposing any specific
political solution, Perino replied: "No, I think
that we just would encourage an open dialogue which
they have had over the past couple of months."
Asked whether the PKK -- branded a terrorist group
by the European Union, Turkey and the United States
-- would have a seat at the table, Perino replied:
"I don't know whether they talk to terrorists. I
know that we do not."
A senior US official, briefing reporters on
condition of anonymity, said later that Washington
expected Ankara to include leaders of Iraq's
northern Kurdish region in the discussions.
The official also said Gul was working to improve
the political and economic lot of Kurds in Turkey
"to make sure that there isn't a disaffected
minority that would be a recruiting pool for the PKK."
And the official said that Turkey did not request
"anything specific" in terms of additional US aid to
combat the group.
Turkey's military has confirmed three air strikes
conducted with US intelligence assistance against
the PKK in Iraqi Kurdistan since December,
cooperation that has helped soothe sometimes
strained relations.
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.
Washington has urged restraint from Turkey's
military, worried that strikes in northern Iraq
could destabilize what has been a relatively stable
area in the strife-torn country.
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.
On another front, Bush again strongly endorsed
Turkey's longstanding bid to become a member of the
European Union, saying Ankara was "a fantastic
example" of democracy flourishing in a predominantly
Muslim country.
"I view Turkey as a bridge between Europe and the
Islamic world," the US president added.
Bush, due to leave for the Middle East hours after
Gul's visit, said he had briefed his guest on his
trip and reiterated his belief in the creation of an
independent Palestinian state living at peace with
Israel.
"The president is engaged very much in efforts to
ensure peace in the Middle East, and we believe that
is an important effort which can yield results,"
said Gul, who said they had also discussed energy
issues and the Balkans.
Asked what Washington could do to help Ankara with
EU accession, Perino said Turkey faced reform
requirements to become a member and the United
States would "encourage them to move forward on
those reforms."
The United States has warmly backed those
aspirations, despite resistance from some EU
powerbrokers such as France.
It was Gul's debut trip to Washington since the
moderate Islamist politician took office in August.
At a November meeting with Turkish Prime Minister
Recept Tayyip Erdogan, Bush promised real-time US
intelligence on PKK guerrilla movements across the
mountainous border between Turkey and Iraq, and
acquiesced to Turkish air raids on rebel redoubts,
according to US officials.
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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