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Turkey readies for ground operation
against Kurdish PKK rebels in March
18.2.2008
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February 18, 2008
Ankara, -- The Turkish Armed forces (TSK) is
currently developing its strategy for the operation
against Kurdish PKK militants, which will most
likely be launched in the middle of March.
The Turkish Forces is preparing for a comprehensive
ground operation into Kurdistan region in 'northern
Iraq' against the Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK) rebels, expected to take place in spring.
The ground operation is planned to be the final
strike against the PKK organization. It will follow
upon a series of aerial attacks that have seriously
disrupted the organization, bringing it to the brink
of collapse. Reports indicate that communications
between PKK leaders was seriously disrupted by the
operations and that the distrust that emerged
following the severing of communications has brought
the organization to the edge of dissolution.
Iraqi Kurdistan region president Massoud Barzani on
Monday loomed over that the region
will take up arms
against foreign interferences mainly Turkish
violations if attacks on border Kurdish villages
continue and interferences keep rising regarding the
implementation of article 140.
Iraqi Kurdish officials have held multinational
forces responsible for continuous Turkish shelling.
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.
The spring operations will coincide with the
withdrawal of the units that carried out operations
in the winter and the deployment of replacement
units. Military sources indicate that the spring
operation will be carried out in two separate
regions,www.ekurd.net
one along Turkey's
borders with Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan region and one
inside Turkey, near the Kurdish provinces of Tunceli,
Bingöl, Siirt and Diyarbakir.
Turkey will also reportedly use unmanned Heron
surveillance airplanes, which will be provided by
Israel. These will play an indispensable role in the
combat against rebel activity. The Heron will be
used to screen and monitor a large area, including
Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' mountains.
The Turkish forces had previously deployed 50,000
troops in the border region with Iraqi Kurdistan
before the cross-border operation on Dec. 16, when
Turkish warplanes began pounding PKK bases.
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,www.ekurd.net
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.
Clashes between Turkish police
and Kurdish demonstrators broke out
on Friday during annual demonstrations denouncing
Kurdish PKK rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan's capture
and imprisonment nine years ago. They intensified
after a Kurdish youth died of head injuries during
protests in the town of Cizre Friday.
todayszaman com | Agencies
**
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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