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Turkey says 150 Kurdish PKK rebels killed,
PKK spokesman dismissed the figures as false
4.5.2008
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May 4, 2008
ANKARA, -- More than 150 Kurdish rebels from
the Turkey's separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
have been killed in Turkish bombing raids carried
out in Kurdistan region in "northern Iraq" this
week, the Turkish army said Saturday.
But a PKK spokesman
dismissed the figures as false, describing them as
psychological warfare.
"According to initial estimates, this operation
allowed us to neutralise more than 150 terrorists,"
said a statement on the Turkish army website.
Several senior PKK commanders may have been among
the dead, the statement said, adding that the raids
caused "panic among (PKK) members."
The raids in the mountainous Qandil region,www.ekurd.net
which began late
Thursday and continued into the night, hit 43
targets including shelters and a PKK communications
centre, which were all destroyed, the army said.
PKK spokesman Ahmed Danis dismissed the death toll
issued by the Turkish army and previous figures
published in the Turkish media.
He told AFP that six of their fighters had been
killed during the attack overnight Friday in the
Qandil mountains.
"The Turkish government is indulging in
psychological warfare against the people of
Kurdistan and PKK," he said.
"The Turkish media is exaggerating the number of
attacks and the number of people killed and
wounded," he added.
Bokani represents an Iranian Kurdish PJAK rebel
group, the Free Life Party, which is allied with the
Turkey's Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. Both
groups are fighting for an autonomous Kurdish state.
He said six rebels died in the latest attacks.
PJAK is an anti-Iranian Kurdish rebel movement
fighting the Islamic regime of Iran,
PJAK (Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan), Since
2004 PJAK took up arms for self-rule in the
country's mainly Kurdistan province northwestern of
Iran (Iranian Kurdistan, Eastern Kurdistan). Half the members of PJAK
are women.
The Qandil mountains straddle Iran, Iraqi-Kurdistan
and Turkey and have long been a separatist haven.
Turkish warplanes have been bombing PKK positions in
Iraqi Kurdistan region on and off 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 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.
Turkey's parliament authorized cross-border military
action against the rebels for a period of one year
in October, paving the way for the ground offensive,
which was preceded by five bombing raids on PKK
targets in Kurdistan 'northern Iraq'.
Washington on Friday endorsed the air strikes,
saying they targeted PKK "terrorists".
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.
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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