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Ankara deflects PKK-Taliban comparison
30.1.2010 |
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January
30, 2010
ANKARA, — Ankara deflected criticism for
backing a measure to include moderate Taliban in the
Afghan plan while cracking down on pro-Kurdish
groups on its soil.
The international community backed a measure to
include Taliban moderates in the Afghan
reconciliation effort, a plan mentioned by Afghan
President Hamid Karzai during a visit to Istanbul
before the Thursday conference in London.
Political leaders, including Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, came forward Friday with
statements of praise for Taliban integration.
Davutoglu, however, faced criticism for Ankara's
support for the Afghan initiative while taking a
harsh stance on pro-Kurdish groups and the outlawed
Turkey Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK,www.ekurd.netTurkey's
English-language daily Hurriyet reports.
"Such comparisons are not accurate," he said, adding
Turkey has not been embroiled in conflict for the
past 30 years like Afghanistan.
Ankara in 2009 launched an effort to find a
political solution to lingering issues with the
Kurdish minority through a series of cultural
considerations and amnesty offers.
Davutoglu said that what sets Ankara apart is its
embrace of democracy as a reconciliation tool.
"Turkey's biggest power that distinguishes it from
other countries in the region is its democracy," he
said. "There should be no hesitation on that."
Pro-Kurdish groups, however, counter that a court
decision to ban a pro-Kurdish party from politics in
December puts the democratic initiative in doubt.
Since 1984 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.
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.
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.
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.
In August, the government announced plans to expand
Kurdish freedoms in a bid to erode popular support
for the PKK and end the insurgency.
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