|
Turkey warns it would strike Kurdish PKK
fighters inside Syrian Kurdistan
26.7.2012 |
|
|
|
July 26, 2012
ANKARA, — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan accused Syria of letting Turkey's Kurdish
PKK rebels operate inside Syrian Kurdistan in north
of the country and warned that Ankara would not
hesitate to strike against them.
"In the north, it (President Bashar al-Assad's
regime) has allotted five provinces to the Kurds, to
the terrorist organisation," Erdogan said on Turkish
television late Wednesday, referring to the
Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK).
He said the move was explicitly aimed against Turkey
and warned that "there will undoubtedly be a
response on our part to this attitude."
Asked if Ankara would strike fleeing rebels after an
attack on Turkish soil, Erdogan said: "That's not
even a matter of discussion, it is a given. That is
the objective, that is what must be done."
"That is what we have been doing and will continue
to do in Iraq," he said during a programme aired on
Kanal 24.
"If we occasionally launch aerial strikes against
terrorist areas it's because these are measures
taken because of defence needs."
Turkey regularly bombs suspected Kurdish rebel
hideouts in Kurdistan region in Iraq's north.
Relations between Turkey and Syria have steadily
soured since the start of the uprising against
Assad's rule in Syria in March 2011,www.ekurd.net
with Erdogan criticising the regime's crackdown
against the revolt.
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.
Copyright ©, respective
author or news agency,
AFP | ekurd.net | Agencies
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the
content of news information on this page
|
®
