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Kurdish party barred from polls for
alleged PKK rebel links
3.6.2009
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June
3, 2009
SULAIMANIYAH, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', —
A party said to be close to Kurdish rebels in Turkey
has been barred from contesting next month's
elections in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, the
election commission and the party said on Tuesday.
"Judicial authorities in Baghdad informed us that
they have banned the al-Amal list from participating
in the elections" on July 25, said Ali Qader, the
head of the regional electoral commission in
Kurdistan.
"Our list was banned for political reasons," said
Najiba Omar, who heads the al-Amal ('Hope' in
Arabic) list.
The list is dominated by the al-Hal party, seen as
close to the Turkey's Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK),
which took up arms for self-rule in Turkey's
Kurdish-majority southeast in 1984,www.ekurd.net
triggering a conflict that has
claimed some 44,000 lives. A large Turkey's Kurdish
community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK
rebels. Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish
population as a distinct minority.
"Our list is independent and al-Hal has participated
in elections twice before" in Kurdistan, Omar
insisted, adding that the grouping would appeal the
decision.
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,www.ekurd.net
but Kurdish politicians
say the measures fall short of their expectations.
Ankara has long accused Iraqi Kurds of aiding the
PKK but during a visit to Baghdad by Turkish
President Abdullah Gul in March, his Iraqi
counterpart Jalal Talabani -- himself a Kurd --
warned the rebels based in its northern mountains to
lay down their guns or leave the country.
Kurdistan's 2.5 million eligible voters will elect a
parliament and a president next month, six months
after provincial polls were held in most of the rest
of Iraq, the first vote in the country since 2005.
Six
candidates have
registered to contest the presidency, including
incumbent Massoud Barzani, while around 40 political
entities have registered to contest the 111 seats in
the assembly.
The vote will also mark the first time the president
of Kurdistan will be elected by popular vote. In
2005, Barzani was elected by the local Kurdish
parliament.
Copyright, respective
author or news agency,
AFP | Agencies
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