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Turkey accuses Syria of harboring Kurdish
PKK rebels
24.5.2012 |
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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,
the party also demanded an end to
ethnic discrimination in Turkish laws and
constitution against Kurds, ranting them full
political freedoms. Photo: Khalid Mohammed/AP
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Turkey says Syria is helping
Kurdish PKK rebels by allowing them to work from its
territory
May 24, 2012
ANKARA, Turkey, — Syria is allowing
Kurdish PKK rebels who are fighting Turkish forces
to establish bases in Syrian territory, as ties
between the two neighboring countries deteriorate, a
Turkish minister said Wednesday.
Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin said Turkish
intelligence indicates that Syria is allowing rebels
to establish themselves in areas close to the
Turkish border. Some Kurdistan Workers’ Party rebels
have even taken charge of running small Syrian
towns, Sahin claimed, describing the development as
an apparent act of revenge against Turkey.
Turkey has reacted to the popular uprising in Syria
by urging its leader, Bashar Assad, to step down, by
accepting some 23,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey, and
by playing host to civilian and military members of
the Syrian opposition.
Kurdish PKK rebels have long used bases in Iraqi
Kurdistan region to launch attacks in Turkey, but
Syria had stopped allowing that.
“Terrorist groupings that were not there a year ago
have been spotted,” Sahin told private NTV
television. “Syria is turning a blind eye to
terrorist groupings in areas close to the border to
put Turkey in difficulty and perhaps as a way to
take revenge on Turkey.”
Turkish officials have accused Syria of reviving its
ties with the Kurdish rebels, and Sahin’s statement
came a week after three Turkish military officers
were killed in fighting with suspected rebels in the
mountainous region of Amanos near the Syrian border.
It was the first such clash reported there in
several years.
Syria is believed to have stopped harboring Kurdish
rebels in 1998, when Turkey threatened military
action. Ties between the two countries also improved
after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip came to
power in 2003,www.ekurd.net
and Damascus was cooperating with Turkey in its
fight against the Kurdish rebels until ties soured
over Syria’s bloody crackdown on civilians.
The PKK has several times proposed peaceful solutions regarding Kurdish problem,
Turkey has always refused saying that it will not negotiate with “terrorists”.
Since it was established in 1984, the 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 ass 'terrorist' organization by
Ankara and 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.
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