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249 Turkish soldiers, 24 PKK rebels killed
in June: PKK statement
5.7.2012 |
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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.
July 5, 2012
QANDIL MOUNTAINS, Turkey-Iraqi Kurdistan
frontier, — Confrontations between the fighters
of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Turkish
army in June claimed the lives of 249 soldiers and
24 guerrillas, said a statement by PKK.
The statement was issued by the press and media
center of People's Defense Forces (HGP, the military
wing of the PKK) which was published by Firat news
agency, linked with the Kurdish organization.
The statement said that in the past month the
Turkish army conducted 53 ground attacks, 16 air
strikes, 8 cobra strikes, and 24 cannon attacks.
There were also 44 confrontations between the PKK
and army.
As a result of 36 operations conducted by guerrillas
in the meantime, 249 soldiers and a policeman were
killed and 160 more soldiers were wounded.
24 PKK HGP guerrillas also died in the clashes.
The fighters also managed to shoot down five
Sikorski helicopters in June.
HGP statement said for the Turkish government
military operation has become the solution for the
Kurdish issue.
It said while in June the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP) asserted strongly that it is
setting the stage for solving the Kurdish issue, the
statistics about the operations, force deployment
and confrontations in June showed the "truth behind
this propaganda."
June was filled up more with the slogans "the
solution is near" and AKP will find the solution,
HGP statement said, while it called the attention to
the fact that the Turkish army conducted more
operations in June than the past six months.
The statement also referred to a "change in tactics"
of PKK fighters. It said the PKK fighters who had
"limited" operations against Turkish army,www.ekurd.net
conducted more operations with higher morale in
June.
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.
Copyright © respective author or news agency,
firatnews.com | aknews.com | AFP | ekurd.net |
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