|
Turkish PM seeks halt return of Kurd
refugees
25.10.2009
|
|
|
|
October
25, 2009
ANKARA, Turkey, — Turkey wants to halt the
return of Kurdish refugees after a group of returning
separatist militants received a festive welcome last
week, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as
saying on Saturday.
Rebels from the Turkey's Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
surrendered last week after returning from
neighbouring Iraq to support Erdogan's reform
process,www.ekurd.netwhich
includes plans to grant more political and cultural
rights to minority Kurds.
Scenes of
thousands of
Kurds waving PKK flags and chanting slogans in
favour of its leader Abdullah Ocalan in the majority
Kurdish southeastern cities irked the government and
angered nationalist Turks. |
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan |
"Unwanted things
happened despite the warnings given to the
(pro-Kurdish) Democratic Society Party. A crisis of
confidence has emerged and return of (a Kurdish
refugee) group from Germany has been postponed,"
broadcaster NTV quoted Erdogan as telling reporters.
A group of Kurdish refugees had been expected to
return to Istanbul
from Germany on Oct 28.
"Let's have a break and we will assess the process
later," the prime minister said.
Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party has launched an
initiative that is expected to give greater freedom
to the over 20 million-strong Kurdish minority in
Turkey's southeast.
The reforms are important for advancing Turkey's
application for membership of the European Union,
and responds to demands that Ankara meet the bloc's
human rights criteria.
The conflict has severely hampered economic
development in the region, which lags far behind
relatively prosperous western Turkey.
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, Reuters | Agencies
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
®
