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Top U.S. Iraq commander visits Turkey on
PKK-rebels
25.10.2008
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October
25, 2008
BAGHDAD, — The commander of U.S. forces in
Iraq, General Ray Odierno, has met a senior military
official in Turkey to discuss Turkey's Kurdish PKK
rebels launching attacks into Turkey from Kurdistan
region "northern Iraq", the U.S. military said.
The meeting Friday with General Hasan Igsiz,www.ekurd.net
deputy chief of the
Turkish General Staff, "centered on U.S. forces'
ongoing assistance to Turkey in its effort to defeat
the Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK," the
military said in a statement.
Turkey has launched air strikes and shelled rebel
areas in recent weeks in the most recent twist of
its long campaign to crush the PKK rebels,www.ekurd.net
who have carried out
cross-border attacks from camps in mountain areas of
Iraqi Kurdistan near the Turkish border.
Turkey has stepped up its military response since an
attack from the PKK which killed 17 Turkish soldiers
this month. |
U.S. General Raymond Odierno |
Odierno promised to
share intelligence in support of efforts against the
PKK.
"There are things we can do now,www.ekurd.net
in the short-term, to
help protect the lives of innocent people, and we're
committed to supporting our Turkish and Iraqi
partners in this effort," Odierno said.
PKK attacks have been a strain to Iraqi-Turkish
ties, but the two countries appear to be making a
renewed diplomatic push to find a coordinated
response to the conflict.
Last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in a phone
call that the two countries, along with the United
States, should work together to "end the danger"
posed by the PKK.
Last week, Kurds demonstrating in
support of jailed PKK-rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan
clashed with Turkish police in Istanbul and other
Turkish cities following allegations of his
mistreatment in prison. A large Turkey's Kurdish
community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK rebels.
Dozens of people were detained in two cities in the
largely Kurdish southeastern region of Turkey
(Turkey Kurdistan).
In Diyarbakir, the largest city in the region, more
than 5,000 slogan-chanting demonstrators protested.
Police did not initially react but charged when they
were attacked with stones. Several dozen people were
detained.
One Kurdish
protestor was killed
Monday during a rally organized by the DTP after
clashes erupted between Turkish police protestors in
the Dogubeyazit district of Agri province.
Over 39,000 Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas have been killed since 1984 when the
Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
took up arms for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast of Turkey (Turkey-Kurdistan). A large Turkey's
Kurdish community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK rebels.
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, ranting them full
political freedoms.
The PKK is considered a 'terrorist' organization by
Ankara, U.S., the PKK continues to be on the
blacklist list in EU despite court ruling which
overturned a decision
to place the Kurdish rebel
group PKK and its political wing on
the European Union's terror list.
Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population
as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural
rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish
language and private Kurdish language courses with
the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish politicians
say the measures fall short of their expectations.
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
Reuters | Agencies
*
Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population
as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural
rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish
language and private Kurdish language courses with
the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish politicians
say the measures fall short of their expectations.
** 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 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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