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Police, Kurdish protesters clash for
second day in southeastern Turkey
17.2.2008
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Police break up Kurdish funeral protest in Turkey
February 17, 2008
DIYARBAKIR, Kurdish Southeastern region of
Turkey, -- Police and protesters clashed in
southeastern Turkey on Saturday, a day after
demonstrations on the ninth anniversary of Kurdish
PKK-rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan's capture led to
the death of a 15-year-old, media reports said.
More than a thousand protesters, mostly young
people, confronted authorities during the boy's
funeral on Saturday in the town of Cizre near the
Syrian border.
Authorities responded with tear gas and by firing
into the air, television reports showed.
Protesters ransacked stores, blocked roads and threw
rocks at anti-riot police. About a dozen were
detained, Anatolia news agency reported.
Clashes were also reported between police and
protesters in the neighbouring town of Hakkari. |
10,000 Kurds protested in Strasbourg on Saturday |
Scores were detained Friday when police broke up
demonstrations. The 15-year-old died after being
wounded in the head in unclear circumstances in
Cizre.
Meanwhile, at least 10,000 Kurds protested in
Strasbourg on Saturday to demand Ocalan's release.
The European Court of Human Rights is based in the
French city,www.ekurd.net
and the European
Parliament also sits there.
Turkish undercover agents, aided by US colleagues,
captured Ocalan in Nairobi after the rebel chieftain
left the Greek embassy there, where he had been
offered refuge for several days while on the run.
He was flown to Turkey and sentenced to death for
treason in June 1999. His sentence was later
commuted to life in prison as Turkey abolished
capital punishment as part of EU-sought reforms.
Since December 16, Turkish warplanes have carried
out five bombing raids on PKK positions in Kurdistan
region in 'northern Iraq', where the group takes
refuge.
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, ranting them full
political freedoms.
The PKK group is listed as a "terrorist" organisation by
Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
AFP
**
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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