October
22, 2009
WASHINGTON, — Washington supports efforts by
the Turkish government to reconcile its differences
with the Kurdish minority, U.S. State Department
officials said.
Abdullah Ocalan,
the imprisoned leader of the Turkey's Kurdistan
Workers Party, or PKK, called on members of his
blacklisted organization to form "peace groups" in
an effort to resolve the so-called Kurdish question.
Ankara is pushing forward with its own plans to find
a political solution to its decades-old conflict
with Kurdish minorities and the PKK separatist
group.
As many as 34 PKK members from the Makhmur refugee
camp in Kurdistan region in Iraq's north
turned themselves
over of their own free will this week.
Ian Kelly, a spokesman for the U.S. State
Department, said that while Washington considers the
PKK to be a terrorist organization for its militant
activity in the region,www.ekurd.netthe
reconciliation effort was a welcome move.
"We support the efforts of our Turkish allies to
deal with the problem of the PKK," he said.
He went on to call on Ankara to offer cultural and
language rights to the Kurdish minority as part of a
broader reconciliation effort.
The U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign
Assets Control last week froze the assets of three
leaders of the PKK identified as "significant
foreign narcotics traffickers."
Since 1984 the PKK took up arms
for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast of
Turkey (Turkey-Kurdistan) which has claimed around
45,000 lives of Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas. A large Turkey's Kurdish
community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK
rebels. Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish
population as a distinct minority.
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,www.ekurd.net
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.
Ankara is currently working on a package of fresh
reforms to expand the freedoms of the Kurdish
community, but has rejected calls to halt military
action against the PKK.
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.
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