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Kurdish PKK, PJAK rebels threaten suicide
attacks against US
5.5.2008
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May 5, 2008
QANDIL MOUNTAINS, Kurdistan region 'Iraq' --
Kurdish rebels could launch suicide attacks against
American interests to punish the U.S. for sharing
intelligence with Turkey after Turkey bombed rebel
bases, a spokeswoman for a wing of a rebel group
warned.
Turkey's military said more than 150 Kurdish rebels
were killed in Friday's air strikes against bases of
the Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party,www.ekurd.net
or PKK, on Mount Qandil
on the border of Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan. Peritan
Derseem, a senior official of the rebel group's
Iranian wing, PEJAK, claimed that only six people
were killed in latest Turkish strikes.
The PKK fights for autonomy in Turkey's southeast
and also has a wing fighting for Kurdish rights in
Iran.
Derseem blamed the United States for helping Turkey
in an interview late Sunday.
She said some rebels want to join suicide squads to
avenge the deaths of their comrades but that
"combatants are under the control of the
organization," which she said is against such
attacks. That may change, Derseem hinted.
"We have changed our stand toward the United States
government and we are standing against them now,"
she said. "Maybe some day ... individual combatants
might launch suicide attacks inside Iraq and Turkey,
and even against American interests."
Derseem claimed that her group was acting
independently from the main branch of the PKK.
"We have common goals with the PKK and the two
parties follow the principles of Chairman Abdullah
Ocalan," who is imprisoned on a prison island near
Istanbul, Turkey. "But we have our own decision
making."
The Turkish military has launched several air
assaults on Kurdish rebel targets in Kurdistan
region in 'northern Iraq' in recent months. 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.
Until the most recent air raid, the military had not
announced an operation that penetrated into Iraqi
Kurdistan as far as Mount Qandil.
"They want to annihilate us. But we will not
surrender," said Derseem. "We have been hiding in
caves and nearby mountains." |
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.
Young Kurdish PKK fighter in Qandil mountains,
fighting for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast of Turkey (Northern KURDISTAN).
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 rebels said the Turkish jets fired more than 50
missiles at the site and demolished some buildings,
including a meeting hall, a library and a media
center.
Iranian artillery units have also been shelling
Mount Qandil in recent weeks, Derseem said. Craters
said to be left by Iranian shelling were visible on
a mountain path leading to the rebel camp.
PJAK (PEJAK) 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.
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 from, 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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