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US military confirms Turkish raid into
Iraqi Kurdistan
22.2.2008
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February 22, 2008
BAGHDAD, -- The US military confirmed Friday
that Turkish forces had crossed Iraq's border to
hunt for Turkish separatist Kurdish PKK rebels in
the country's northern mountains in Kurdistan
region.
"Turkish ground forces have entered into northern
Iraq for what we understand is an operation of
limited duration to specifically target PKK
terrorists in that region," said spokesman Rear
Admiral Gregory Smith.
"Turkey has given its assurances it will do
everything possible to avoid collateral damage to
innocent civilians or Kurdish infrastructure,"www.ekurd.net
he added, in a statement
sent to AFP.
Earlier the Turkish army general staff had announced
that it had launched an operation in northern Iraq's
autonomous Kurdistan region to target bases used by
the Turkish-rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Turkish television reported that
10,000 troops
were involved in the mission,www.ekurd.net
but it was not clear how
many crossed the frontier and Iraq's Foreign
Minister Hoshyar Zebari denied there was a
large-scale incursion.
"The United States continues to support Turkey's
right to defend itself from the terrorist activities
of the PKK," Smith said.
According to the spokesman, the US "has encouraged
Turkey to use all available means, to include
diplomacy and close coordination with the government
of Iraq, to ultimately resolve this issue."
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
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