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Turkish PM says Kurdish reforms depend on
PKK rebels' surrender
23.10.2009
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October
23, 2009
ANKARA, Turkey, — Turkey's plans to expand
the rights of its Kurdish community will falter if
separatist rebels do not surrender, Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in comments published
Friday.
His warning came amid widespread criticism of the
government's alleged lenient treatment of a group of
the Turkey's Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels
who walked free shortly after
crossing into Turkey
from Iraqi Kurdistan region on Monday.
The subsequent festive welcomes staged for the eight
rebels by tens of thousands of cheering Kurds
shouting slogans in favour of the PKK also drew the
ire of many in a country where the rebels are
branded as terrorists.
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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan |
In comments published in
several newspapers, Erdogan warned that public
discomfort over the hero's welcome given to the
rebels could hamper government plans to grant the
Kurdish community more rights.
"This could negatively affect the process... We
would not want it, but it could throw us right back
where we started," he said.
He underlined that the reform process would continue
smoothly if PKK rebels abandoned their armed
campaign and turned themselves in.
"We expect these (surrenders) to continue. If they
do not, there is nothing we can do," Erdogan
stressed.
Although Turkish officials have described the rebel
group's arrival on Monday as "surrender",www.ekurd.netthe
PKK has said they were "peace envoys" dispatched to
bring the group's proposals to end the violence.
The group also said it would not it would not lay
down arms as long as Ankara continues military
operations against the rebels and fails to take
concrete steps to give Kurds political rights.
Another rebel "peace group" is expected to come from
Europe in the coming days.
Since August, Ankara has been working on a raft of
democratic reforms to address Kurdish grievances,
but it has also vowed to pursue military action
against the PKK and rejected rebel calls for
dialogue.
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.
Copyright,
respective author or news agency, AFP | Agencies
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