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Four killed in Turkish helicopter crash in
Kurdish region
23.7.2012 |
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S-70 Sikorsky helicopter.
July 23, 2012
DIYARBAKIR, The Kurdish region of Turkey,
— A Turkish paramilitary helicopter crashed Sunday
in the Kurdish region in southeastern Turkey
(northern Kurdistan) where troops are fighting
Kurdish PKK rebels, killing four security personnel
on board, officials said. Eight others were injured.
The S-70 Sikorsky helicopter, belonging to Turkey's
paramilitary police force, crashed while landing
near an outpost in Hakkari province, close to the
border with Iraq, the military said in a statement
posted on its website. It was carrying four crew
members and 11 security personnel.
The military said the helicopter experienced a loss
of power and crashed. But Firat News, an agency that
is close to the rebels, claimed the helicopter was
downed by Kurd rebel fire.
In a PKK statement on Monday on the Turkish
helicopter crash in Yüksekova town of Hakkari
province on Sunday, the PKK reported and confirmed
that the Skorsky type helicopter was shot down by
PKK (HPG) guerrillas. The statement said that
eight Turkish soldiers died and seven others were
wounded as a result of the action by guerrilla
forces, AND news agency reported.
Clashes between Turkish soldiers and Kurdistan
Workers' Party PKK guerrillas and military
reinforcement transfer to the region are reported to
be continuing.
On the other hand, one soldier died and 15 others
were wounded as a result of an accidental hand
grenade explosion in Yeşiltaş outpost of Hakkari on
Sunday night. The wounded soldiers,www.ekurd.net
reported to be seriously injured, have been sent to
hospitals in Kurdish Van city.
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.
But now its aim is the creation an autonomous 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.
The PKK wants constitutional recognition for the Kurds, regional
self-governance and Kurdish-language education in schools.
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, 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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author or news agency,
AP |
firatnews.com | ekurd.net | Agencies
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