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Six teenagers charged in Turkey over
Kurdish unrest
25.10.2008
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October
25, 2008
DIYARBAKIR, Kurdish Southeastern region of
Turkey, — Six Kurdish boys, aged 13 and 14,
were arrested Friday as part of a probe into violent
Kurdish protests here this week, court sources said.
A judge in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey's
Kurdish-majority southeast,www.ekurd.net
the boys be detained
pending trial on charges of belonging to the
Turkey's separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),
which Turkey lists as a 'terrorist group', and
committing crimes on its behalf, the sources said.
The boys were rounded up during a violent
demonstration in Diyarbakir
Monday in which scores of people took to the streets
after lawyers of jailed Kurdish PKK leader Abdullah
Ocalan alleged he had been mistreated in prison.
In their testimonies to the court, the boys denied
having taken part in the unrest, maintaining they
just happened to be in the street and mixed with the
crowd in the confusion, the sources said.
The demonstrators hurled sticks and stones at the
Turkish police,www.ekurd.net
who responded with tear
gas and water cannons.
Children are often seen pelting the police with
stones during Kurdish demonstrations, and the
authorities say PKK militants are deliberately using
minors to tarnish the image of the security forces.
Another 17 minors were among 51 people who were
being questioned Friday in Diyarbakir over the
unrest.
Officials have categorically denied that Ocalan has
been mistreated, and accused the PKK of
orchestrating the protests, which erupted at the
weekend and spread across the southeast, claiming
one life.
Ahmet Ozkan, 26, was killed
on Monday during a rally organised by the DTP after
clashes erupted between Turkish police and
protesters in Dogubeyazit.
Over 39,000 Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas have been killed since 1984 when the
Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
took up arms for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast of Turkey (Turkey-Kurdistan). A large Turkey's
Kurdish community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK rebels.
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.
The PKK is considered a '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.
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.
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
AFP |
Agencies
*
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.
** Kurds are not recognized as an official minority
in Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Others estimate over 40 million Kurds live in Big
Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
Turkey is home to 25 million ethnic Kurds, a large
Turkey's Kurdish community openly sympathise with
the Kurdish PKK for a Kurdish homeland in the
country's mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media. The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish alphabet has led
to judicial persecution in 2000 and 2003
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan
but unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag
is banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it
is a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey)
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