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One Turkish soldier dead, 13 wounded in clash with Kurdish PKK
rebels |
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Source : DPA, AFP, AP, Agencies |
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One Turkish soldier dead, 13 wounded in
clash with Kurdish PKK rebels
17.4.2008
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April
17, 2008
DIYARBAKIR, Kurdish Southeastern region of
Turkey, — One Turkish soldier was killed and 13
wounded Wednesday night in a fire-fight with
Turkey's Kurdish PKK separatists, the CNN-Turk
television station reported on Thursday.
According to CNN-Turk, Turkish soldiers found the
group of Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
guerrillas in the Kurdish mountainous region of the
south-eastern province of Siirt,www.ekurd.net
near the border with
Iraqi Kurdistan region. After calling on the
guerrillas to surrender the soldiers were fired
upon, CNN-Turk reported.
It was not known if the PKK suffered any casualties
and operations in the area were continuing on
Thursday.
The clash comes a day after Turkish
warplanes bombed
a group of PKK rebels inside Kurdistan region in
'northern Iraq'. The Turkish General Staff said the
group were planning to cross the border to launch
attacks inside Turkey.
The Sirnak governor's office says the fighting took
place late Wednesday, the same day Turkish warplanes
hit a group of rebels reportedly trying to cross the
border.
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. According to the Turkish
military 240 PKK fighters, 24 Turkish soldiers and
three village guards employed by Turkey were killed
in operation.
Turkish forces withdrew
from semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in 'northern
Iraq' on February 29, only a day after US President
George W. Bush
urged Ankara to
quickly wrap up the incursion and Defense Secretary
Robert Gates personally
put pressure on
Turkish leaders during a visit to Ankara.
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
Ankara, U.S., the PKK continues to be on the
blacklist list in EU despite court ruling which
overturned a decision to place the Kurdish
rebel group PKK and its political wing on
the European Union's terror list.
Information for this report was provided by DPA, AFP,
AP, 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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