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Turkey puts army on alert along Iraqi
Kurdistan border
22.1.2008
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January 22, 2008
ISTANBUL, -- The tension between Iraq and
Turkey continues to escalate as the latter ordered
state of alert of all forces along the borders with
Iraqi Kurdistan and ordered troops to be ready for
land and air military operations.
The Turkish armed forces ordered some 150,000
soldiers along the borders to take all necessary
preparation while operations continue against
Turkey's Kurdish PKK rebels in Kurdish Sirnak
Province in southeast regions of the country.
Warplanes meanwhile flew over Kato and Gabar
mountains looking for members of the Turkey's
Kurdish PKK party.
The armed forces also announced that three
separatists, members of the PKK,www.ekurd.net
have surrendered
themselves to the authorities in Sirnak. There was
escalation in confrontations in recent weeks between
the Turkish armed forces and the PKK and the forces
went on several air raids on PKK locations in
Kurdistan 'northern Iraq'.
The Turkish Army also executed a limited incursion
into Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' to strike Turkey's
PKK locations from which the organization launches
attacks on Turkish targets.
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 PKK, listed as a "terrorist" group by Ankara, US
and EU.
kuna net.kw
**
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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