|
Turkey installs hundreds of infrared
cameras on Iraqi Kurdistan border
28.1.2008
|
|
|
|
January 28, 2008
ANKARA, -- Turkey has installed advanced
surveillance equipment along its 280-kilometer
border with Iraqi Kurdistan region. Security sources
said the Turkish military has installed hundreds of
cameras along border points.
The sources said the infrared cameras were linked to
a command and control headquarters to ensure rapid
response. "There has been some improvement in our
capability to monitor terrorist movements along the
border," a security source said. On Jan. 22, the
Turkish military was placed on high alert along the
Iraqi Kurdistan border.
About 150,000 troops were said to have amassed in
southeastern Turkey near Iraqi Kurdistan. The
sources said the thermal cameras operated mostly at
night to monitor the border. They said the cameras
were also installed around strategic facilities. |
Turkey has installed advanced surveillance equipment
along its 280-kilometer border with Iraqi Kurdistan
region |
Turkey has also installed advanced equipment along
checkpoints and border crossings. The sources said
the systems were designed to examine vehicles for
explosives and weapons.
The Turkish C2 system has been operating amid
intensified military activity along the Iraqi
border. The sources said border searches have
tightened and even military vehicles were being
stopped. Ankara has been battling both the Kurdish
insurgency as well as an emerging threat from Al
Qaida. On Thursday,www.ekurd.net
authorities reported the
death of a Turkish police officer and two Al Qaida
fighters in a battle in southeastern Turkey.
At the same time, the Turkish Army has continued
exercises in the southeast. On Jan. 19, about 50
main battle tanks conducted maneuvers with infantry
troops in Cizre.
In October, the Turkish parliament authorized the
military to strike at the rebels across the border.
The crisis on the Iraqi Kurdistan-Turkish borders
unprecedentedly flared up in November 2007 after the
Turkey's Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is
banned in Turkey, escalated operations against
Turkish forces.
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.
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, 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.
worldtribune com | Agencies
**
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
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 