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Austria: Kurdish militants storm Vienna
Turkish Airlines office
28.7.2012 |
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Riot police stand guard in front of a Turkish
Airlines (THY) sales office during a protest at
Taksim Square in Istanbul, June 1, 2012.
Photo: Reuters
July 28, 2012
VIENNA,— A dozen Kurdish militants
carrying banners on Friday briefly occupied the
Turkish Airlines office in Vienna before police
moved in, Austrian police said, AFP reported.
An airline employee used pepper spray as police
officers were dealing with the incident. Medics
later treated the Kurds and 15 officers.
Police detained the employee and the militants may
face charges.
Rebels and militants backing their cause have
targeted Turkish interests abroad for years.
A large Turkey's Kurdish community openly sympathise
with the Kurdish PKK
rebels.
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,www.ekurd.net
but Kurdish
politicians say the measures fall short of their
expectations.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party or 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.
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.
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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