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'Israeli Eitan (Heron) drones aiding
Kurdish PKK activities in Turkey'
18.1.2012 |
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Israeli Eitan (Heron) drone
January
18, 2012
ANKARA, — Heron UAVs helped PKK set up
bases in Hatay province, Turkish intelligence report
says according to 'Today's Zaman'
Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles seen hovering over
parts Turkey have gathered intelligence for the
Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), Turkey's Today's
Zaman reported Tuesday according to Turkish
intelligence agencies.
The report claimed that Israeli Heron drones helped
the PKK gather information on the Hatay province,
bordering Syria, to determine the locations for
establishing training bases.
Turkish military sources reported sighting an
Israeli Eitan
(Heron) drone in
the sky on January 4, 2011 above the Turkish Hawk Brigade 14 stationed
on the northern Syrian border at Kirikhan in the
Hatay district of southern Turkey. The Israeli drone
was said to have hovered over the encampment for
four hours.
Today's Zaman failed to say whether the Turkish
report implicated Israel in aiding the PKK in any
specific attack, many of which result in the deaths
of Turkish soldiers.
It claimed, however, that Kenan Yıldızbakan, a PKK
member that organized an assault on a naval base in
2010, had visited Israel a number of times, lending
to suspicions of collusion.
The decades-long conflict between Turkey and Kurdish
separatists located largely along the Turkish border
with Iraq and Syria has resulted in the deaths of
tens of thousands of Kurds,www.ekurd.net
and over 10,000 Turkish soldiers and police.
The Turkish intelligence report underlines the low
in diplomatic relations between Israel and Turkey,
which nosedived when Israel announced it would not
apologize officially for the deaths of nine Turkish
activists aboard the Mavi Marmara.
Turkey downgraded military, political and economic
ties with the Jewish state in the wake of the
diplomatic row.
Since it was established in 1984, the Kurdistan
Workers' Party PKK has been
fighting the Turkish state, which still denies the
constitutional existence of Kurds, to establish a
Kurdish state in the south east of the country, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000
lives.
But now its aim is the creation an autonomous
Kurdish region
and more cultural rights for ethnic Kurds who
constitute the greatest minority in Turkey, numbering more than 20 million. A large Turkey's
Kurdish community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK rebels.
PKK's demands included releasing PKK detainees,
lifting the ban on education in Kurdish, paving the
way for an autonomous democrat Kurdish system within
Turkey, reducing pressure on the detained PKK leader
Abdullah Öcalan, stopping military action against
the Kurdish party and recomposing the Turkish
constitution.
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.
The PKK is considered as '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.
Sources: jpost.com | ekurd.net | debka.com |
Agencies
Copyright © 2012 ekurd.net
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