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Turkish PM: Ground offensive against
Kurdish PKK rebels inside Iraqi Kurdistan remains an
option
20.2.2008
Re-written by ekurd.net
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February
20, 2008
Ankara, Turkey, -- A Turkish ground offensive
against Turkish-Kurdish PKK rebels hideouts in
Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' remains possible, the
foreign minister said on Tuesday.
"The option for a
ground operation
is open," CNN-Turk television quoted Foreign
Minister Ali Babacan as saying. He said the timing
of any operation would depend on weather conditions.
Turkey has staged aerial attacks against suspected
rebel camps in northern Iraq since Dec. 16 after
securing U.S. promises to provide intelligence about
Turkey's Kurdish PKK militants.
Dogan news agency reported that 100 military
vehicles, including armored personnel carriers and
ambulances,www.ekurd.net
headed toward the Iraqi
border from the town of Cizre on Tuesday. Turkish
military activity near the border with Iraq is
routine, and it was unclear whether the convoy was
linked to any plan for a cross-border offensive or
was providing assistance to troops hunting rebels on
Turkish soil. |
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan |
Heavy snow and harsh winter conditions at the rugged
border would make any major ground incursion
extremely difficult at this time. Military vehicles
would have far more mobility when weather conditions
improve in the spring.
Turkey's aerial assaults were part of a U.S.-backed
campaign to chip away at guerrilla strength.
The United States has
cautioned Turkey not to stage a ground operation
that could exacerbate tensions with Iraqi Kurd
leaders, who are allied with U.S. troops
in Iraq, and destabilize a relatively peaceful part
of the country.
Babacan acknowledged differences with Massoud
Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan
semi-autonomous region in 'northern Iraq'. Turkey
believes Barzani, who espouses Kurdish solidarity
and has
warned Turkey
not to intervene on Iraqi territory, is not making a
sincere effort to crack down on the PKK rebel group.
"We have problems with Barzani. He should take
reassuring steps. Barzani should declare the PKK a
terrorist group," CNN-Turk quoted him as saying.
"Turkey's goal is not only the PKK but the whole
idea of an autonomous Kurdistan region," Massoud
Barzani, the President of Kurdistan said on
Kurdistan TV channel on Saturday 23.Dec.2007.
Turkey rejects direct talks with Iraqi Kurdistan
government, Officially, Turkey does not recognise
the regional government of Kurdistan led by
president Massoud Barzani.
Turkey has never, and still does not, recognize the
Kurdistan region government (KRG) and refuses to
meet with its representatives in any official
capacity. That reflects Ankara's fear that any
international respect shown to the autonomous Iraqi
Kurdistan region would only embolden Turkey's own
large Kurdish minority to seek similar home-rule
status.
A prominent Kurdish lawmaker Dr Mahmoud Othman a
Kurdistan Coalition (KC) member of Iraqi parliament,
said in October 2007 "The U.S. must be aware of the
magnitude of threats posing on a daily basis against
the territories of Iraqi Kurdistan Region," Othman
added "Turkey has been committing the crime of
terrorism against the Kurdish people since almost
100 years and isn't granting them their rights."
That's why it's not sensible to describe the PKK as
a terrorist organization.www.ekurd.net
Because the PKK is
struggling against the terrorism committed being
committed by the Turkish government,".
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.
Babacan said any future operation will target only
the rebels and not Iraqi civilians.
Turkey has staged ground incursions against Turkish
Kurd rebels in Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' in past
years. The rebels, who seek autonomy for the mostly
Kurdish population in southeastern Turkey, have
launched attacks into Turkish territory from bases
in northern Iraq.
Analysts believe the Turkish raids inside Iraqi
Kurdistan region had a secondary purpose of
discouraging a referendum on Kirkuk city.
Ankara fears that if the oil-rich Kirkuk joins
Kurdistan, the Kurds will have the economic
foundation they need for an independent state.
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 is considered a terrorist organization by
the U.S. and the EU.
AP | 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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