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Turkey's pro-Kurdish DTP to urge Talabani
toward ‘democratic solution of Kurdish issue'
7.5.2008
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May 7, 2008
SULAIMANIYAH, Kurdistan region 'Iraq',--
A delegation led by Democratic Society Party (DTP)
parliamentary group chairman Ahmet Türk is scheduled
to meet today with Iraq's President Jalal Talabani
to urge him to play an active role in the solution
of the Kurdish issue in Turkey.
DTP deputies Sebahat Tuncel and Hasip Kaplan as well
as Kamuran Yüksek, deputy co-chairman of the DTP,
accompanied Türk during his travel to Sulaimaniyah
yesterday, party executives told Today's Zaman.
"The delegation will meet [Wednesday] with President
Talabani and explain that Turkey's military
operations inside Kurdistan region of 'northern
Iraq' are not helpful for the eventual solution of
the Kurdish issue. The DTP delegation will reiterate
that the issue should be resolved on the axis of
democracy," a DTP executive told Today's Zaman.
The delegation also plans to meet with either
Massoud Barzani,www.ekurd.net
the president of
semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, or Nechirvan
Barzani, the prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan, the
same official added, noting that an exact
appointment with Massoud Barzani or Nechirvan
Barzani had not yet been set as of yesterday
afternoon.
"During talks with both Talabani and the Iraqi
Kurdish leadership, the DTP will ask them to play
their roles in a solution of the Kurdish issue, and
they will also emphasize the vital need for unity
among Kurdish people," the executive, who requested
anonymity, elaborated. The delegation is scheduled
to return to Turkey on Thursday.
The visit by the DTP, which is facing a closure case
currently under way before the Constitutional Court
on charges of its being "a focal point of
terrorism," comes only days after a landmark meeting
between two senior Turkish officials and Nechirvan
Barzani in Baghdad last week, in the first
high-level official talks between Ankara and Iraqi
Kurds in years.
Ankara for many years has refused to have any
dialogue with the Iraqi Kurds, saying they support
the PKK, but the path for dialogue is now slowly
reopening. Turkey has also been striking PKK bases
in Kurdistan region in 'northern Iraq'.
On Sunday, Massoud Barzani was quoted as saying that
the PKK must end the violence and that Kurds want
dialogue with Ankara. Earlier this week, news
reports said the Iraqi Kurdistan government has
established security outposts on the border with
Turkey to prevent infiltration of PKK members into
Turkey. |
Iraqi President : Jalal Talabani, a Kurd
Democratic Society Party (DTP)
deputy Ahmet Turk
DTP deputy Sebahat Tuncel |
Shortly before his departure yesterday Türk made a
statement at Istanbul's Atatürk Airport. "They
[Kurds] want to improve friendly relations with
their siblings in Turkey. But the Middle East is a
problematic region. … How can we remove these pains?
This is why we're paying a diplomatic visit," Türk
told reporters.
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 (Northern Kurdistan). 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.
Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population
as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural
rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish
language and private Kurdish language courses with
the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish politicians
say the measures fall short of their expectations.
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
todayszaman com | 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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