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Kurdistan president says Kurds will fight
back against Turkish troops
24.2.2008
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February
24, 2008
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan Region 'Iraq',-- The
President of the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan
Massoud Barzani said Kurds would fight back Turkish
troops if military operations along the Iraq-Turkish
borders extended to reach Kurdish inhabitants, a
spokesman for the Kurdish region's government said
Saturday.
"After evaluating the situation, we confirm that the
Autonomous Region of Kurdistan is not a part of the
fighting between the Turks and the Kurdistan
Worker's Party (PKK)," Barzani told reporters after
meeting with leaders of the city of Duhok on Friday.
He said, "if the clashes harmed any of the Kurdish
citizens or further reached Kurdish inhabited areas,
Kurds are instructed and prepared to counter
attack."
The real intention behind the Turkish action in
northern Iraq was to target the Autonomous Region of
Kurdistan, not the PKK, the spokesman said. |
Massoud Barzani, the President of the autonomous Regional
Government of Kurdistan 'Iraq' |
He explained that destroying the infrastructure of
the mountainous region was not related to fighting
the PKK and was strong evidence of the Kurds being
targeted.
On Friday,
Turkish troops crossed into
Iraqi Kurdistan in an attempt to
destroy Kurdish rebel bases in the mountainous
region. Turkish television reported that 10,000
troops had been involved.
Turkey has carried out regular cross-border
airstrikes and small- scale operations targeting
positions of PKK rebels.
Over 39,000 Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas have been killed since 1984 when the 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
the U.S. and the EU.
DPA
**
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 over 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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