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Turkish president says Iraqi Kurdistan
withdrawal was on schedule
3.3.2008
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March 3, 2008
ANKARA, -- Turkish troops withdrew from
Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' on schedule, President
Abdullah Gul said Sunday, rejecting claims that US
pressure had ended Ankara's ground offensive against
Turkish-Kurdish PKK rebels.
The operation "ended just as it was planned. It all
has to do with military planning," Gul told
reporters here before departing on an official visit
to Romania.
"Let me tell you in all sincerity that the Americans
had no impact on it."
The Turkish military announced on Friday that it had
ended a week-long incursion
into Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq' to hunt
Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels who
have used the region as a base in their 23-year
separatist campaign against Ankara. |
Turkey Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül |
The announcement, which
came a day after US President George W. Bush
urged a swift
withdrawal and Defence Secretary Robert Gates put
pressure on
Turkish leaders in talks in Ankara,www.ekurd.net
led to speculation that
US pressure had accelerated the end of the
incursion.
Gul said he was personally informed about the
withdrawal but underlined that it was not announced
to the public so as not to endanger the soldiers'
safety.
"Publicly explaining the planning of military
operations means putting the soldiers in danger," he
said.
In a newspaper interview published Saturday, the
head of the Turkish army also dismissed claims of US
pressure, saying that troops had started returning
on Wednesday after killing most of the PKK rebels
targeted near a major base.
"This was a decision taken on military reasons
altogether. There was not even a hint from
politicians or foreigners to withdraw," General
Yasar Buyukanit said.
The general staff on Sunday distributed new images
of the operation,www.ekurd.net
showing soldiers, armed
with machine guns and assault rifles, walking on
snow-covered mountains.
One of the pictures showed a soldier carrying an
artillery shell on which it was written: "It is not
over yet, more will come."
Turkish soldiers
crossed into Kurdistan region
in 'northern Iraq' on February 21 for what officials
described as a limited incursion against the PKK
after two months of air strikes on rebel positions.
Iraqi Kurdistan politician says, Turkey is using
Turkey's Kurdish separatist PKK rebel group (Kurdish
freedom fighters) 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 | 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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