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Kurdish PKK rebels urge urban violence
after Turkish raids inside Iraqi Kurdistan
24.2.2008
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PKK:
This war will burn everyone. We are not against the
Turkish people but this is the reality of war.
February 24, 2008
ANKARA, -- The separatist from the Turkish
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on Sunday called on
Kurds across Turkey to engage in urban violence in
response to the Turkish military offensive
against rebel camps in Kurdistan region in
'northern Iraq', a news agency close to the group
reported.
"Kurdish youths in large cities must respond to the
operation... The response... must be very strong,"www.ekurd.net
Bahoz Erdal, a PKK
leader, was quoted as saying by the Firat news
agency, considered a PKK mouthpiece.
"If they want to wipe us out, our youths should make
life in the cities unbearable... Kurdish youths
should unite... and burn hundreds of cars every
night."
"This war will burn everyone. We are not against the
Turkish people but this is the reality of war," he
added.
Turkish troops crossed into
Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq'
Thursday evening in the largest cross-border
offensive in years against PKK hideouts in the
region,www.ekurd.net
bombing rebel positions
and fighting the militants on the ground.
At least 79 rebels and seven soldiers have been
killed so far, according to the Turkish military.
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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