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Turkish military says 19 Kurdish PKK
rebels killed in airstrikes in southeast Turkey
10.5.2008
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May
10, 2008
DIYARBAKIR, Kurdish Southeastern region of
Turkey, — The Turkish military said Saturday
it had killed 19 Kurdish PKK rebels in airstrikes in
southeast Turkey, in retaliation for a rebel raid on
a military outpost that killed
two soldiers.
The airstrikes were launched in response to a late
Friday rebel attack on a military outpost in Kurdish
Hakkari province, the military said in a statement
posted on its Web site. Hakkari is where the borders
of Turkey, Iran and Iraqi-Kurdistan meet.
The military also claimed in the same statement that
it had dealt a major blow on the rebels during a
cross-border air raid deep into Kurdistan region
'northern Iraq' earlier this month,www.ekurd.net
forcing one rebel
leader, Cemil Bayik, to seek refuge in a neighboring
country with a number of his followers and another,
Bahoz Erdal, to leave a mountain haven for another
base closer to the Turkish border.
A large number of rebels had also laid down arms and
found refuge in areas inhabited by local Iraqi
Kurds, as a result of the air operation on Mount
Qandil in Iraqi Kurdistan on May 1-2, the military
also claimed. The rebel leadership is believed to be
hiding in the Qandil region, about 100 kilometers
(60 miles) from the Turkish border.
In a further claim, the military said Bayik had
engaged in fighting with the forces of the country
he had sought refuge and said there was no
information on his situation. It did not say if the
country was Iran, where Iranian Kurdish rebels are
fighting government forces.
The rebels immediately denied the military's claims.
Firat, a pro-Kurdish news agency based in Europe,
quoted another rebel leader, Zubeyir Aydar as saying
the rebel commanders "were on top of their duties."
Aydar said the military had suffered a major blow
during the attack on the military outpost in Hakkari,
and was making the false statements in part to
disguise the defeat. He accused the military of
engaging in a psychological warfare to try and
demoralize rebel supporters.
Over 39,000 Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas have been killed since 1984 when the
Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party (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.
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.
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,
AP | 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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