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Kurdish PKK rebels say they shot down
Turkish helicopter in Iraqi Kurdistan
24.2.2008
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February 24, 2008
CUKURCA, Turkey,-- Turkish-Kurdish PKK rebels
said they shot down a Turkish military helicopter
during fighting in Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq',
a pro-Kurdish news agency reported, but there was no
confirmation from Turkey and no way to verify the
claim independently.
The Firat news agency, which often carries
statements of the Turkish rebel Kurdistan Workers'
Party, or PKK, reported Saturday that the guerrillas
downed a Cobra attack helicopter near the village of
Hore,www.ekurd.net
close to the Turkish
border. It gave no other details and cited no named
sources.
The Turkish military says seven of its soldiers and
at least 79 rebels have been killed in Iraq since it
began a
ground incursion
to chase the rebels late Thursday. |
Kurdish PKK rebels said they shot down a Turkish
military helicopter during fighting in Kurdistan
region 'northern Iraq' |
The PKK says it has
killed 15 Turkish troops.
The incursion is the first confirmed Turkish
military ground operation in Iraq since the U.S.-led
invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
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.
"If Turkey is really keen on fighting PKK members,
why shouldn't it fight them on its lands now that
there is an intensive presence of PKK inside
Turkey," Mahmoud Othman, a prominent Kurdish
lawmaker said earlier. "Turkey has been committing
the crime of terrorism against the Kurdish people
since almost 100 years and isn't granting them their
rights." That's why it's not sensible to describe
the PKK as a terrorist organization. Because the PKK
is struggling against the terrorism committed being
committed by the Turkish government," Othman added.
Analysts believe the Turkish raids had a secondary
purpose of discouraging a referendum on Kirkuk city,
Kirkuk city is a Kurdish city and it lies just south
border of the Kurdistan autonomous region, the
population is a mix of majority Kurds and minority
of Arabs, Christians and Turkmen. Article 140, in
Iraq's 2005 constitution calls for a referendum in
Kirkuk “to determine the will of the citizens to
join autonomous Kurdistan region or stay as a part
of Iraq” by the end of 2007. In December 2007,
Kurdish leaders agreed to a six-month extension of
that deadline, but no longer.
Turkey rejects direct talks with Iraqi Kurdistan
government, Officially, Turkey does not recognise
the regional government of Kurdistan led by
president Massoud Barzani.
Turkey has never, and still does not, recognize the
Kurdistan region government (KRG) and refuses to
meet with its representatives in any official
capacity. That reflects Ankara's fear that any
international respect shown to the autonomous Iraqi
Kurdistan region would only embolden Turkey's own
large Kurdish minority to seek similar home-rule
status.
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.
AP | Agencies
**
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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