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Turkish FM signals closer dialogue with
Iraqi Kurdistan government
28.4.2008
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April
28, 2008
Ankara, — Turkey will seek closer cooperation
with the Kurdish leaders of semi-autonomous
Kurdistan region in 'northern Iraq' to curb Turkish
Kurd PKK rebels taking refuge in their region,
Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Monday.
Babacan's remarks signalled a softening of the
Turkish stance towards Iraqi Kurds. Ankara has
accused them in past of harbouring militants of the
Turkey's separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
"We have had some differences... over the PKK
terrorist organisation. But in the coming days,www.ekurd.net
you can expect
increasing contacts on various levels with the
administration of northern Iraq," the Anatolia news
agency quoted Babacan as saying. |
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan |
Closer dialogue with the Iraqi Kurds "is important
with respect to fighting the terrorist organisation
(PKK) and also for our economic relations and energy
cooperation with Iraq as a whole," the minister
said.
Ankara has accused the Iraqi Kurds,www.ekurd.net
who run autonomous Kurdistan in northern Iraq, of
tolerating the PKK and even supplying it with
weapons and explosives. Kurdish authorities in
Kurdistan region strongly reject the claim.
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.
Turkey rejects direct talks with the official Iraqi
Kurdistan government on the crisis over the Turkey's
separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels.
Officially, Turkey does not recognise the regional
government of Kurdistan led by president Massoud
Barzani.
Turkey has never, and still does not, recognize the
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.
Turkish warplanes have bombed PKK positions in
northern Iraq since mid-December. In February,
thousands of Turkish troops, backed by tanks,
attack helicopters and warplanes,
crossed into Kurdistan region in northern
Iraq on February 21 drawing protests from Iraqi Kurds and Baghdad. in an operation which Ankara said was aimed at Turkey's Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas and their bases, where Ankara estimates more than
2,000 militants take refuge.
Tensions eased a week after the cross-border
operation when Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a
Kurd, visited Ankara and pledged cooperation against
the PKK.
But Turkey's ties with the administration of
northern Iraq, led by Massoud Barzani, the president
of Kurdistan region, remain chilly and the United
States has often called on both sides to mend
fences.
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.
Copyright, respective author or news agency, 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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