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Kurdistan troops surround Turkish tanks
and armored vehicles in Iraqi Kurdistan
22.2.2008
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Kurdistan troops surround Turks in worst
confrontation yet in Iraqi Kurdistan
February 22, 2008
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', --
Iraqi Kurdish troops on Thursday encircled Turkish
soldiers in Kurdistan region in 'northern Iraq' and
threatened to open fire in the most serious standoff
between the two nation’s forces since Turkey
threatened late last year to go after guerrillas
from the Turkish Kurdistan Workers Party PKK
sheltering in Iraq.
The standoff began when Turkish troops in tanks and
armored vehicles left one of five bases they’ve had
in Iraq since 1997 and moved to control two main
roads in Kurdish Duhok province, Iraqi officials
said.
Kurdish soldiers from the peshmerga militia, which
is loyal to the Kurdistan Regional Government, moved
to stop them. For an hour and a half,www.ekurd.net
the two sides faced off
before the Turkish soldiers retreated to their base,
which is about 27 miles northeast of the city of
Duhok. The peshmerga surrounded the base and
remained there late Thursday.
The Turkish troop movement was accompanied by
artillery and airstrikes that targeted mountain
areas held by rebels from the Turkish-Kurdistan
Workers’ Party, which is known by its initials as
the PKK. A spokesman for the peshmerga, Jabar Yawar,
said the shelling began at about 11 a.m. and
continued past midnight. Two bridges were knocked
out over the Great Zab River, he said.
“This is a matter of the sovereignty of Iraq and the
unity of Iraq,” said Falah Bakir, the head of the
foreign relations department of the regional
government. “We hope that there will be no clashes —
the Kurdistan Regional Government has done enough to
show our goodwill to Turkey.”
Bakir said the regional government has tightened
security at checkpoints, airports and hospitals to
stop PKK movements, but that the Turkish military
has continued its buildup. He called for the Iraqi
central government and U.S. military to step in to
stop what he called Turkey’s “abnormal movements.”
A spokesman for Iraq's Kurdish Peshmerga security
forces denied there had been any gunbattles on
Thursday with Turkish troops just inside Kurdistan
region 'northern Iraq'.
"There were no clashes between the Peshmerga and
Turkish forces," said Jabbar Yawar. Reuters
reported.
Earlier, a spokesman for the office of the president
of Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdistan region said
there had been a gunfight between the two sides.
In Baghdad, Iraqi government officials held tense
meetings with American civilian and military
officials to stem the crisis in one of the only
peaceful areas of Iraq.
“We have to do something,” said a senior Iraqi
official, who asked not to be identified because of
the sensitivity of the issue. “We cannot keep quiet
and keep digging our heads in the sand.”
The growing tension between Turkey and Iraqi
Kurdistan has wedged the United States between two
allies. Turkey is a NATO member,www.ekurd.net
and the Iraqi Kurds in
Kurdistan have been among the biggest supporters of
the American presence in Iraq.
But the PKK, which has battled Turkey for decades
for an autonomous Kurdish region in the mainly
Kurdish southern Turkey, also has broad support in
northern Iraq, despite being labeled a terrorist
organization by the United States.
There were no PKK casualties from Thursday’s Turkish
shelling, said Ahmed Dennis, a spokesman for the
group.
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', Turkey fears this could fan separatism among its own
large Kurdish population in southeast Turkey.
Over 39,000 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 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
the U.S. and the EU.
Mc.Clatchy Newspapers | Reuters
**
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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