|
Britain urges Turkey to pull out of Iraqi
Kurdistan, condemns PKK
22.2.2008
|
|
|
 |
February 22, 2008
LONDON, -- Britain on Friday called for
Turkey to withdraw its forces from Kurdistan region
in 'northern Iraq', but at the same time condemned
Turkish-Kurdish PKK militants for mounting
cross-border attacks.
The Turkish army said earlier that its
ground troops
entered Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' to hunt
separatists from the Turkey's Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) after fighter jets struck at their
bases.
In a statement, the Foreign Office said: "The United
Kingdom condemns PKK terrorist attacks in Turkey and
the loss of life that these attacks have caused and
understands Turkey's desire to counter the PKK, a
terrorist organisation.
"We would encourage Turkey to withdraw from Iraqi
territory as early as possible and to take the
greatest possible care to avoid causing harm to the
civilian population."
Britain, which supports Turkey's European Union
ambitions,www.ekurd.net
said it was working with
the governments in Ankara and Baghdad, plus the
Kurdish regional authorities in northern Iraq, to
resolve the issue diplomatically.
It also said it wanted to prevent Iraqi territory
being used as a base for attacks on Turkey.
Some 10,000 troops were reported to have penetrated
10 kilometers (six miles) into the autonomous
Kurdistan in northern Iraq.
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.
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
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 