|
30 killed as Kurdish PKK rebels attack
Turkish security complex
3.9.2012 |
|
|
|
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: UKS/AA
September 3, 2012
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey's Kurdish
region,— Kurdish rebels armed with machine-guns and
rocket launchers attacked a security complex in
southeastern Turkey [northern Kurdistan] overnight,
triggering fierce fighting that left about 30 people
dead, local sources said Monday.
Ten Turkish soldiers were killed and seven wounded
in the attack in the province of Sirnak, the local
government said, while other local sources said
about 20 members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) were also killed.
Provincial governor Vahdettin Ozkan said the
militants had attacked the security complex at
Beytussebap late Sunday, killing nine members of the
security forces and wounding eight. His office later
said that one of those wounded had died.
Police and soldiers returned fire, triggering fierce
clashes.
The PKK has stepped up its assaults against Turkish
security forces in recent months, with Turkish
officials and the local media linking the surge to
the conflict raging in neighbouring Syria.
Last month, 10 people were killed in a car bomb
attack blamed on the separatist Kurds in the
southeastern Kurdish city of Gaziantep.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had
threatened military intervention if the Kurdish
rebels set up bases in Syria.
Some government officials believe that Damascus --
once backed by Ankara -- is helping the PKK in
retaliation for Turkey's support for rebels fighting
President Bashar al-Assad.
The PKK has several times proposed peaceful solutions regarding Kurdish problem,www.ekurd.net
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. More than 40,000 people have since been
killed.
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
|
®
