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Security agreement between Ankara and
Tehran, the target is the Kurdish separatists
19.4.2008
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The
memorandum between the two countries does not say
so, but it seems evident that the intention is to
exchange information and cooperation in order to
exorcise the attraction that Iraqi Kurdistan wields
over millions of Kurds who live in neighbouring
countries.
April
19, 2008
ANKARA,-- The memorandum signed by Turkey and
Iran to develop cooperation on security is clearly,
if not explicitly, anti-Kurdish. The agreement,
announced by the interior ministry of Ankara, was
reached at the end of a series of conversations that
saw the participation of Iranian deputy interior
minister Abbas Mohtaj.
A statement from Turkish officials says that "the
growth of some terrorist movements in the region is
damaging both countries, and the most positive way
to combat them is the exchange of information and
cooperation in the field of security".
Even if it is not said explicitly, the reference is
to the separatist Kurdish groups, against which
Turkish air raids continue in Iraqi territory. The
growing autonomy of Iraqi Kurdistan is looked upon
with preoccupation by Ankara and Tehran, because of
the fear that this could be a pole of attraction for
the heavily Kurdish populations residing in the
surrounding regions of the two countries.
The Iranian news agency ISNA situates the agreement
in the context of Tehran's programme for increasing
regional cooperation on security. Iranian experts
will meet for this purpose in Saudi Arabia next
month.
Iraqi Kurdistan politician says, both Turkey and
Iran are using
Turkey's Kurdish separatist PKK rebel group (Kurdish
freedom fighters) and Iran's PJAK 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 and Iran fears
this could fan separatism among its own large
Kurdish population.
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
asianews it
** 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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