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Kurdish PKK rebels threatens to retaliate
against Turkey
28.3.2008
By staff
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March 28, 2008
MOUNT QANDIL, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', --
Turkey's rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has
threatened to retaliate against Ankara after the
violence during the Kurdish New Year celebration of
Newroz in the mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey
(Turkey's Kurdistan).
"The Turkish state must listen to the message of
freedom from the Kurdish people and immediately halt
its violence against civilians," the number two of
the PKK group,www.ekurd.net
Bozam Tekim, told AFP in
an interview on Thursday.
"There will be uncontrolled reaction. The Turkish
state and the ruling party will bear the
responsibility of these new developments."
Tekim warned that unless Ankara ended its actions of
"abuse against civilians, the PKK will retaliate".
The interview was conducted in the Qandil mountains,
an area of tall, rugged mountains which serves as a
PKK hideout in Iraq's autonomous northern Kurdistan
region along the border with Turkey and Iran.
Two people were
killed and
dozens injured and
300 detained
over the past week in southeast Turkey during the
celebration of the Kurdish new year, which fell on
March 21.
Dozens of people have been detained in Turkey's
mainly Kurdish-populated southeast where
celebrations of Newroz Day turned into protests of
support for the PKK. |
Turkish riot policemen beat a Kurdish protester
during a clash in Van, on March 24. Turkey's rebel
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has threatened to
retaliate against Ankara after the violence during
the Kurdish New Year celebration of Newroz in
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 |
Newroz is a traditional platform for Turkey's Kurds
to demonstrate support for the rebels and demand
broader rights.
"The Kurdish people continue to fight for freedom.
They have once again demonstrated their support for
the PKK and its leader Abdullah Ocalan (PKK founder
who is imprisoned in Turkey)," said Tekim.
"The new violence against civilians demonstrates
that the Turkish state continues its policy of force
and denial of our rights," he charged.
The recent
incursions by
the Turkish army in Iraqi Kurdistan region, "despite
the support of the United States, has resulted in
its failure", the rebel leader said.
The Turkish army "got a severe lesson" during the
incursion in the last week of February in the Zap
region of Kurdistan-Iraq.
The PKK claims it killed 127 Turkish soldiers and
lost nine of its fighters.
Ankara says it dealt a severe blow to the rebel
movement during the incursion that killed 240
rebels.
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. Turkey is home to some 25 million ethnic
Kurds.
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
Ankara, 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 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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