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Erdogan says Turkey will keep fighting PKK
in Iraqi Kurdistan
10.2.2008
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Erdogan: we will fight PKK 'until we win'
February 10, 2008
Munich, Germany, -- Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country will fight
rebels from the Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party,
or PKK, in Kurdistan region in 'northern Iraq'
"until we win.''
"We can't stop this operation before the terror has
ended,'' Erdogan told the Munich Security
Conference, attended by about 350 diplomats and
politicians including 50 defense and foreign
ministers. "We are going to continue until we win.''
Turkish warplanes bombed 70 suspected PKK positions
in Iraq on Feb. 4, the latest in a series of raids
that began in December and have killed hundreds of
PKK fighters according to the military. |
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan |
Almost 40,000 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.
Erdogan criticized European Union members for
hampering his country's efforts to combat the PKK
even though the bloc has declared the group a
terrorist organization.
He said that while EU states showed success in
intercepting PKK members,www.ekurd.net
they often failed to
extradite them and sometimes set them free. PKK-linked
groups in Europe also collected millions of euros in
funds, Erdogan said.
EU countries show laxity in prosecuting suspected
PKK members, Erdogan said. "I'm not going to name
these countries.''
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. Turkey is home to
over 25 million ethnic Kurds
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.
Bloomberg com
**
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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