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Turkish army chief denies US pressure led
to Iraqi Kurdistan pull-out
1.3.2008
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March 1, 2008
ANKARA, -- Turkey's withdrawal from Kurdistan
region 'northern Iraq' was based solely on military
needs, the head of the army said in remarks
published Saturday, dismissing "unfair" criticism
that Ankara had bowed to US pressure.
"No one said 'withdraw'," General Yasar Buyukanit
said in an interview with the popular Milliyet
daily.
"This was a decision taken on military reasons
altogether. There was not even a hint from
politicians or foreigners to withdraw." |
Turkish General Yasar Buyukanit |
The general staff
announced Friday it had ended a week-long ground
offensive against Turkey's separatist Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) rebels in the autonomous
Kurdistan region in Iraq,www.ekurd.net
pulling its forces out
in the early hours of the day.
The withdrawal came a day after
US President George W. Bush
urged Turkey to end its withdrawal
"as quickly as possible" and visiting US Defence
Secretary Robert Gates personally
put pressure on
Turkish leaders during talks in Ankara.
Buyukanit said the decision to pull out was given
long before Gates arrived in Ankara after Turkish
troops killed 240 out of the 300 PKK rebels targeted
near a major base before losing contact with the
militants.
It had not been announced earlier for tactical
reasons, he said.
"One third of our forces were inside Turkey on
Wednesday, but it would have been murder to announce
the withdrawal then," the general said.
"The most critical phase of an operation is
withdrawal...When you say your forces are
withdrawing, it amounts to telling terrorists to set
up an ambush. That would be an enormous mistake," he
added.
"That is why the criticism is really unfair," he
said.
"He could not have said they are withdrawing or will
withdraw. It is not possible," the general said.
Since 1984 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.
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.
AFP | 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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