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Turkey's Kurds say Erdogan's economic
package not enough to solve Kurdish issue
12.3.2008
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March 12, 2008
ANKARA, Turkey, -- A mini survey among
Turkey's prominent Kurdish personalities showed that
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's plan to
introduce a broad series of
investments worth as much as
$12 billion in the country's largely
Kurdish southeast to create jobs and draw young men
away from militancy "will not do the trick on its
own."
The government says the initiative is designed to
drain support for the Turkey's Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) rebel organization by improving the
lives of the impoverished Kurds living in eastern
and southeastern Turkey, Erdogan told the New York
Times in an interview.
As part of the push, the government will dedicate a
state television channel to Kurdish language
broadcasting, a measure that Kurds in Turkey have
sought for years. The TV will also broadcast in
Persian and Arabic.
In recent days the leaders of the pro-Kurdish
Democratic Society Party (DTP) who have 20 deputies
in parliament met with President Abdullah Gul and
Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan which was regarded
as a new opening in Ankara. However,www.ekurd.net
DTP deputies said their
contacts with the president and the parliament
speaker showed that Ankara is not ready for any
genuine political and social openings on the Kurdish
issue.
The DTP sources said they feel while a massive
economic package could help the people of the region
it will not solve the overall problem if they are
not supported by proper political, cultural and
social measures.
The same views were shared by several moderate
Kurdish personalities outside the DTP like
Serafettin Elci, Abdulmelik Firat and Hasim Hasimi.
NYT said Turkey, a NATO member and a strong American
ally, is a vibrant Muslim democracy that is unique
in the Middle East. It has fought the militant
group, known as the PKK, in Turkey and Iraq for
years to prevent it from establishing a separate
Kurdish state.
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.
The PKK is considered a 'terrorist' organization by
the Ankara, U.S. and the EU.
Information for this report was provided by
thenewanatolian com | 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 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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