June
27, 2008
BERLIN, Germany, — , Well, the German team
has moved one step closer to its inevitable victory
in Euro 2008, but my heart really went out to the
Turkish fans in Berlin Wednesday night.
I was watching the game in Kottbusser Tor in
Kreuzberg, the beating heart of Turkish support in
the German capital. Amidst the beer and banter and
jollity, there was no sign of trouble with any of
the German fans. Well, not quite.
But there was one bunch of Germany supporters who
were determined to wind up their rivals. They were
kind of uber fans, over-dressed from head to toe in
German colours,www.ekurd.net
screaming in a
sinisterly patriotic way every time Germany broke
for goal and generally baiting the Turks. Neo-Nazis?
Nah. They weren't German at all. They were Kurdish.
Yes, on a somewhat grimy esplanade outside the fast
food joints of Kreuzberg, football had become the
latest battleground of Kurdish separatism.
A chum of mine, inquiring at the nearest kebab
joint, discovered that some Turks considered this a
disgraceful "provocation". And frankly, given the
level of baiting, I was fairly sure that a fight
would break out. In England, among fans fuelled by
many pre-match pints, I'm sure it would have.
But under the watchful eye of quite a few burly
police, who managed to combine looking terrifying
with extreme good manners ("Oh, I'm terribly sorry,"
said one as I attempted to move through a little
police cordon to retrieve my bike, "of course. Right
this way.") there was no violence.
But there has been. Last year, as Turkey prepared to
send in its army into Kurdistan region "northern
Iraq" on a campaign against the Turkey's Kurdistan
Workers' Party PKK Kurdish separatists, Turkish and
Kurdish expats in Berlin staged a series of ambushes
and pitched battles of their own.
At the time Spiegel produced a great article
explaining the in and outs of the various factions
in Germany, and about the millions that Kurds in
Germany raise for their cause back home.
This week, German interior minister Wolfgang
Schaeuble
banned a Kurdish Roj TV
station here that he described as a mouthpiece for
the PKK, which tried to “recruit guerrilla fighters
for armed conflict with Turkey”.
Ahead of last night's game, much was written
(including by me) about football's capacity to help
bridge divides between communities. It is the
sporting equivalent of earthquake diplomacy, which
has done much to bring Greece and Turkey closer, and
even China and Japan.
But it's foolish to pretend that the game can't also
focus the enduring, bitter enmity between peoples.
Watching those several dozen Kurds last night,
dreaming of one homeland but dressed top-to-tail in
the colours of another, was reminder enough of that.
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.
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.
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, blogs
telegraph co.uk | 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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