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Kurdish PKK condemns US, Iraqi Kurds for
helping Turkey
24.2.2008
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February 24, 2008
ANKARA, -- Separatist Turkish-Kurdish PKK
rebels condemned the United States and Iraqi Kurds
on Sunday for helping Turkey in a major offensive
against their bases in Kurdistan region 'northern
Iraq', a news agency close to the rebels said.
"The United States is not only giving active
support, but they also take part in the operations,"
Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) commander
Bahoz Erdal told the Firat news agency, considered
to be a rebel mouthpiece.
"US reconaissance planes are overflying the region.
They instantly convey to the Turkish army
information about the position of our forces and
then Turkish warplanes come and bomb the field," he
added.
Erdal charged that some Iraqi Kurdish groups "are
also involved in this ploy" and pointed an accusing
finger at Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd.
"In our opinion,www.ekurd.net
Jalal Talabani's
attitude in this offensive is very dangerous. We
have information that he has even invited the
Turkish army to Qandil," he said, referring to
mountains along the Iraqi Kurdistan-Iranian border,
known to be a major PKK stronghold.
'Northern Iraq' is predominantly Kurdish and run by
an autonomous Kurdistan administration led by
Kurdistan president Massoud Barzani.
Erdal urged Iraqi Kurds to resist Turkish military
action in their region, saying: "If (they) refuse to
take part in this game, the offensive will fail."
An undisclosed number of
Turkish troops crossed into
Kurdistan region in so called
'northern Iraq' Thursday evening in the largest
incursion against the PKK in years,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.
Ankara has accused the Iraqi Kurds of tolerating and
even supporting the PKK, which has long taken refuge
in Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' and uses camps there as
a springboard for attacks on Turkish targets across
the border. Kurdish authorities in Kurdistan region
strongly reject the claim.
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.
The United States has pledged to supply its NATO
ally with real-time intelligence on PKK movements.
The rebels have threatened attacks in city centres
in Turkey to avenge the raids.
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.
Since 1991, the Kurds of Iraq achieved self-rule in
part of the country. In the new Iraqi Constitution,
it is referred to as Kurdistan region. The region
has all the trappings of an independent state -- its
own constitution, its own parliament, its own flag,
its own army, its own border, its own border patrol,
its own national anthem, its own education system,
its own International airports, even its own stamp
inked into the passports of visitors.
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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