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US general in Turkey for talks on Kurdish
PKK rebels
14.2.2008
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February 14, 2008
ANKARA, -- A senior US general arrived here
Wednesday for talks with Turkish military officials
on joint efforts to curb Turkey's separatist Kurdish
PKK rebels based in the border area in Kurdistan
'northern Iraq', a US embassy official said.
General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the US
Joint Chiefs of Staff, will discuss "the ongoing
struggle" against the Turkish-Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) with Turkish counterparts, an embassy
spokeswoman said.
Cartwright, Turkish General Ergin Saygun and US
General David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq,
are coordinating measures against the rebel group.
Washington has been supplying its NATO ally Turkey
with intelligence on PKK movements in Kurdistan
'northern Iraq', where the group has taken refuge.
The Turkish army has, since December 16, conducted
five air raids on PKK targets in Kurdistan region
'northern Iraq' and a cross-border land operation to
stop a group of militants from infiltrating Turkey.
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
25 million ethnic Kurds.
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,www.ekurd.net
granting them full
political freedoms.
The group is listed as a "terrorist" organisation by
Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
Information for this report was provided by AFP | AP
**
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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