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Iraqi Kurdistan president says PKK is not
a 'terrorist' organization
23.6.2008
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June
23, 2008
ROME, Italy, — The PKK is not a
"terrorist" organization, Massoud Barzani, the
president of the autonomous Kurdistan region of
"northern Iraq", told in an interview with an
Italian newspaper. Barzani also said the oil-rich
city of Kirkuk was a part of the Kurdistan regional
administration.
The PKK is not a terrorist organization, it can only
be referred to as terrorist if the PKK rejects a
proposal by Turkey to meet, Turkey's ANKA News
Agency quoted Barzani speaking to Italy's Il Tempo.
Kurds should not get involved in an armed struggle,
they should choose a political struggle instead,
Barzani added.
"We are afraid of nobody.
To invade our territory is equal to a step that
would be a gamble which could lead to a region-wide
crisis," he said when asked whether he is concerned
about a Turkish invasion into their territory under
the "pretext" of a PKK struggle. |
Massoud Barzani, the President of the autonomous Regional
Government of Kurdistan region 'Iraq' |
We need to unite as terrorism and radicalism knows
no bounds; therefore,
an international power
is needed for cooperation, he added.
The Turkish army has stepped up action against the
PKK since December. Thousands of Turkish troops, backed by tanks,
attack helicopters and warplanes,
crossed into Kurdistan region in northern
Iraq on February 21 in an operation which Ankara said was aimed at Turkey's Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas and their bases, where Ankara says more than
2,000 militants take refuge.
Barzani also said Kirkuk was a part of Iraqi
Kurdistan region, but the identity of Kirkuk should
be determined in respect to the nations that live
there.
The referendum on Kirkuk, which was opposed by
Turkey and was scheduled to take place in December
2007 according to the Iraqi constitution, was
postponed for six months with a proposal by the U.N.
Turkey pursues every diplomatic means for Kirkuk to
have special status in a united Iraq as a result of
U.N.-brokered negotiations participated in by all
the groups in the disputed city.
Kurds have had no intentions of endangering the
security and stability of Iraq,www.ekurd.net
Barzani told Il Tempo,
adding the decision regarding Kirkuk should be made
by means of referendum.
Kirkuk city is historically a Kurdish city
and it lies just south border of the Kurdistan
autonomous region, the population is a mix of
majority Kurds and minority of Arabs, Christians and
Turkmen. lies 250 km northeast of Baghdad. Kurds
have a strong cultural and emotional attachment to Kirkuk,
which they call "the Kurdish Jerusalem."
The article 140 in Iraqi constitution calls for conducting a census to be
followed by a referendum to let the inhabitants
decide whether they would like Kirkuk to be annexed
to the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region or having
it as an independent province.
These stages were supposed to end on December 31,
2007, a deadline that was later extended to six
months.
The former regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
had forced over 250,000 Kurdish residents to give up
their homes to Arabs in the 1970s, to "Arabize"
the city and the region's oil industry. Kirkuk, the
capital city of the oil-rich province of Kirkuk,
lies 250 km north of Baghdad.
Since 1984 the Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
took up arms for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast of Turkey. 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,
hurriyet com.tr | AFP | Agencies
** 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)
wikipedia
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