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"Stop Turkish Invasion of Iraq" says
Najmaldin Karim, President of the Washington Kurdish
Institute
27.2.2008
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February 27, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The President of
Washington Kurdish Institute, Dr. Najmaldin Karim,
urged the government of Turkey to withdraw its
troops from Iraqi Kurdistan and immediately cease
military attacks that infringe on the sovereignty of
Iraq. Dr. Karim emphasized the need for Turkey to
finally address the underlying causes of the
cross-border violence perpetrated by illegal armed
groups.
Unilateral Turkish action poses a serious threat to
the most peaceful and successful part of Iraq, the
Kurdistan Region, which has provided a haven from
terrorist violence for thousands of refugees from
elsewhere in the country. His statement responds to
the Turkish military incursion within the last week,www.ekurd.net
which has already caused
considerable damage to civilian infrastructure,
including four key bridges.
Dr. Karim said: "Turkey should immediately withdraw
from the Kurdistan Region, as the Iraqi federal
government in Baghdad and the KRG have demanded. The
unilateral attacks by Turkish forces only impose
destruction and hardship on civilians, and threaten
to destabilize the only truly secure part of Iraq.
This violation of Iraqi sovereignty must not
continue. Turkey is undermining the work that five
successive United States administrations have put
into Iraqi Kurdistan since 1991."
Dr. Karim added: "Military solutions to the PKK will
ultimately fail, as they always have in the past.
Primarily, the PKK is a domestic Turkish issue.
Turkey has a history of repressive policies toward
its Kurdish people. Once and for all,www.ekurd.net
Turkey should take
genuine responsibility for its Kurdish citizens.
Turkey will only succeed in eradicating the PKK when
it adopts a political solution. Turkey should heed
the advice of U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert
Gates, who has said that non-military initiatives
are essential in these circumstances."
"The international community should support the
sovereignty of Iraq and should insist that Iraq's
neighbors respect its territorial integrity. The
international community should condemn Turkey's
action as a serious breach of peace and security in
the Middle East. Turkey's aggression is reminiscent
of actions by repressive Middle Eastern states in
the past, rather than a state aspiring to become a
member of the European Union."
Dr. Karim concluded: "The international community
should follow the calls of United Nations Secretary
General Ban Ki-Moon and the European Union, and
demand an immediate withdrawal of Turkish forces
from the Kurdistan Region and an unequivocal end to
these attacks. The KRG has suggested four-party
engagement on the issue of the PKK between Ankara,
Erbil, Baghdad, and the United States-an initiative
that Turkey has repeatedly obstructed. I also urge
the United States, as the leader of the coalition
forces responsible for security in Iraq, to take a
clear stand against this illegal incursion and to
restrain Turkey from further acts of destruction."
Washington Kurdish Institute
611 4th Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20024
202.484.0140 (Telephone)
E-mail: wki@kurd.org
Website: www.kurd.org
**
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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