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Iraqi Kurdistan PM says PKK is not under
our control
8.5.2008
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May 8, 2008
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan region 'Iraq',--
The Turkey's outlawed PKK separatists have been
located at the region which is not under the control
of the Kurdish administration, Nechirvan Barzani,www.ekurd.net
the autonomous Kurdistan
government PM, told the official website of the
Iraqi Kurdistan Democrat Party (KDP).
Barzani said they, as the Kurdish government in
Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq', did not support
the violence led by the PKK in Turkey, adding this
was a political matter and it required a political
solution as well.
Ankara accuses Iraqi Kurds of harboring and aiding
the Turkey's outlawed separatist Kurdistan Workers'
Party PKK, whose militants use bases in the
mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan to launch attacks
across the border. Kurdish authorities in Kurdistan
region strongly reject the claim.
"We don't want the PKK to use our lands to attack
Turkey... We, as the Kurds, want to have good
relations with our neighbors," he said. |
Nechirvan Barzani, Prime
Minister of
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) |
Barzani said the
Kurdistan government was not responsible for the
activities of the PKK as it is under neither their
control nor their influence.
He added they would strive for a political solution
as any other ways for a solution, except political,
will lead to bloodshed on both sides.
Barzani last week met a Turkish delegation in
Baghdad to handle issues that caused tension in
relations recently.
In Sulaimaniyah,www.ekurd.net
a delegation from
Turkey's pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP)
met on Wednesday Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and
officials from the Kurdistani officials.
The delegation talked with Talabani about how to get
ahead of the process of disputes, the DTP leader
Ahmet Turk told reporters after the meeting.
Talabani agreed on supporting a peaceful process
after the meeting, Turk said. He added the
disarmament is their common point, adding they would
come together more often, the Dogan News Agency
reported.
Turkey has stepped up action against the group since
December and has carried out several air strikes and
in February, 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.
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.
In the past,
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.
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.
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.
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..
Information for this report was provided by,
hurriyet com.tr | AP | 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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