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Turkey says 79 dead in the latest
operation against Kurd PKK rebels, 16 Turkish
soldiers killed
14.9.2012
By Ekurd.net staff writers |
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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. Photo: Ekurd.net/Youtube
September 14, 2012
ANKARA,— Seventy-five rebels and four
soldiers have been killed over the past week in
Turkey's latest operation against Kurdish
separatists in the Turkey's Kurdish region (northern
Kurdistan) in the southeast, officials said Friday.
Four Turkish soldiers have been killed and 75
Kurdish rebels from the The Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) have been "rendered ineffective" in the
operation launched on September 8 in the rebel
strongholds near the Iraqi Kurdistan border, the
local governor's office told the Anatolia news
agency.
Meanwhile the PKK rebel group announced on Wednesday
that it’s militants had killed 16 Turkish soldiers
in clashes with the Turkish military on Tuesday.
A statement released by the People’s Defense Forces
(HPG), which is the military wing of the PKK, said
the PKK rebels had clashed with the Turkish forces
on Tuesday twice in the district of Semzinan.
“Our guerrilla forces launched an attack on four
sides on a 100-soldier strong enemy unit that was
trying to control the Evliya strait in Semzinan
district. As a result, 14 soldiers were killed from
the occupying Turkish army” the statement read.
The statement also said that two PKK rebels were
killed in the clash whose identifies “will be
disclosed to our people and the public opinion… as
soon as we get the details”
The same day, “PKK guerrillas launched an attack” on
Turkish troops in Semzian district and killed two
soldiers,www.ekurd.net
according to the statement.
The operation has been concentrated in the Semdinli
district and has included nearly 5,000 ground troops
backed by air power, according to the army.
The operation follows a Turkish airstrike inside
northern Iraq between September 5 and 9, which
killed 25 rebels and destroyed rebel ammunition in
mountain hideouts, according to the Turkish army.
Last week, the army announced that it has staged 974
operations over the last six months to drive out the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), during
which close to 500 people, most of them Kurdish
rebels, were killed.
The International Crisis Group (ICG) said in its
Tuesday
report that the casualties of the fighting
between the PKK and the Turkish military was at its
record high in 14 years with about 800 killed on
both sides.
The ICG report said about 200 Turkish troops and
security personnel had been killed, in addition to
85 civilians and some 500 PKK militants in the time
period. The ICG group uses statistics form Turkish
sources.
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. 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.
Sources: AFP | aknews.com | ekurd.net
| Agencies
Copyright
© 2012 Ekurd.net
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