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US said it was informed of Turkish raid
into Iraqi Kurdistan region
22.2.2008
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February 22, 2008
WASHINGTON, -- The White House said it had
been notified that Turkish troops were to enter
Kurdistan region in 'northern Iraq' to hunt
separatist Turkish-Kurdish rebels and urged Ankara
to exercise restraint.
"We were notified and we urged the Turkish govt to
limit their operations to precise targeting of the
PKK, to limit the scope and duration of their
operations and we urged them to work directly also
with the Iraqis,www.ekurd.net
including Kurdish
government officials," said White House spokesman
Scott Stanzel.
Turkish troops entered semi-autonomous Kurdistan
region in 'northern Iraq' to hunt separatist Kurdish
rebels after fighter jets struck at their bases, the
Turkish army said earlier Friday.
The army gave no details on the scale of the
operation,www.ekurd.net
but the NTV news channel
said
10,000 troops penetrated
10 kilometers (six miles) into the autonomous
Kurdistan in north of Iraq.
This was the second ground operation into northern
Iraq confirmed by the military since October when
the government won parliamentary approval to enter
Iraq to attack Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
militants based there.
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.
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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