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Iraqi Kurds ready to work with Turkey to
solve PKK problem, Cheney says
27.3.2008
By staff
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March 27, 2008
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney informed Turkey that
the Iraqi Kurds are willing to cooperate with Ankara
in its fight against the Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK), a top U.S. diplomat said late
Tuesday.
Cheney held talks with Turkish officials Monday and
visited the capital Erbil
in Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' to meet Massoud
Barzani,www.ekurd.net
President of the
semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. Turkish diplomats
said earlier that Cheney conveyed no messages from
Barzani.
But U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Ross Wilson, told
reporters on the sidelines of a reception held here
late Tuesday that Cheney gave his impressions on the
meeting with Barzani to Turkish officials, the
Anatolia news agency reported. |
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney |
Cheney said “not only the central Iraqi government,
but Iraqi Kurdistan leaders were also willing to
cooperate with Turkey in solving the PKK problem,”
according to Anatolia.
“The United States always encourages parties for
dialogue,” Wilson said, although he refused to give
details on the conversation between Cheney and his
Turkish interlocutors.
Turkish and U.S. officials also reviewed the ongoing
intelligence sharing mechanism, Wilson said. The
U.S. provides Turkey with real time intelligence on
the activities of the PKK,www.ekurd.net
which let Turkish troops
launch air and ground operations into Kurdistan
region of 'northern Iraq'.
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
Iraqi 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.
Thousands of Turkish troops, backed by tanks,
attack helicopters and warplanes,
crossed into Kurdistan region in northern
Iraq on February 21 in an operation which Ankara said was aimed at Turkey's Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas and their bases.
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.
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 U.S. and the EU.
Information for this report was provided by
turkishdailynews com.tr | 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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