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Kurdistan President inspects Peshmerga
forces as Turkish escalations continue
22.2.2008
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February 22, 2008
Duhok, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', – Iraqi
Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani is
visiting the Kurdish province of Duhok near the
borders with Turkey to inspect the Peshmerga forces
amidst reported advancing by Turkish troops five
kilometers into the Iraqi Kurdistan borders.
Eyewitnesses said the area where the Turkish troops
advanced was Kali Balinda, which separates Turkey
from Iraqi Kurdistan region and where the Peshmerga
has no presence.
Earlier on Friday source from the Turkish-Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) said a field combat was taking
place between Turkish soldiers and PKK fighters in
the border area of Bazian,www.ekurd.net
which comes under air
attacks by Turkish warplanes. |
Massoud Barzani, the President of the autonomous Regional
Government of Kurdistan 'Iraq' |
"Two Turkish soldiers
were killed and eight others wounded in the combat
that broke out on Thursday after
10,000 Turkish soldiers
advanced under air cover to strike PKK positions,"
Ahmed Deniz, the PKK's foreign relations official,
told VOI.
"Fighting is going on in the border areas of al-Zab,
Khwakark and Khenira and the Turkish bombardment is
also continuing," Deniz added.
The Turkish army staff had announced on its official
website that the Turkish forces waged an attack
across the Iraqi borders on Thursday evening with
air backing and would return to their bases as soon
as possible after attaining their objectives.
A high-level official in the Kurdistani border
forces of the Peshmerga, however, said "operations
are now going on inside the Turkish borders,"www.ekurd.net
denying any advancing
into Iraqi borders.
Duhok lies 50 km south of the Iraqi
Kurdistan-Turkish borders and 460 km north of the
Iraqi capital Baghdad.
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.
VOI
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