October
28, 2009
BRUSSELS, — A group of Kurdish refugees said
on Tuesday Turkey has denied them entry visas they
needed to return to the country under government
reforms aimed at expanding Kurdish rights.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to
expand Kurdish rights as Ankara looks to end a
25-year-old conflict between the state and the
Turkey's Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrilla
group.
But at the weekend Erdogan said his government wants
to halt the
return of Kurdish refugees after a group of
separatist militants returning
in
symbolic surrender
from Iraqi Kurdistan region received a
festive welcome.
In Brussels, 15 members of the Kurdish Peace and
Democratic Solution Group said they also wanted to
return, but were denied necessary travel documents.
The Turkish consulate in Brussels was not
immediately available for comment.
"The government's present attitude is blocking the
way for the peaceful and democratic solution of the
Kurdish issue," Ismet Cem,www.ekurd.netleader
of the group, told a new conference.
"The ruling AK party government is claiming that we
created a crisis of confidence," Cem said. "On the
contrary, the government and state forces are
responsible for causing a crisis of confidence by
disturbing, provoking and sabotaging the process."
Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party has launched an
initiative that is expected to give greater freedom
to 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 PKK, based in Iraqi Kurdistan, 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 |
®
