Kurdish News

[imported_RUDO]

Iran Bombards Kurdish Positions in Iraq

Iran Bombards Kurdish Positions in Iraq
By Anadolu News Agency (aa), Sulaimaniya
Published: Friday, April 21, 2006
zaman.com


Reportedly, Iranian soldiers bombarded Kurdish guerillas positions in Northern Iraq.

An official from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Saadi Pira, said, “This morning Iranian Kurdish fighters infiltrated the border into the Iranian side and the Iranian army bombed the area and repelled them."

No statement has been released about casualties in the bombardment.

[Gavur]

PKK suspect found hogtied and hanged in cell

Mersin-According to Hurhaber http://hurhaber.com/news_detail.php?id=1488
accused of bombmaking 25 year old Mehmet Alkan was found hung in his cell with hands and feet tied the matter being investigated.

[imported_RUDO]

Talabani: We Oppose Trans-border Operation

Talabani: We Oppose Trans-border Operation
By Cihan News Agency, Erbil
Published: Monday, April 24, 2006
zaman.com


Concerned about the Turkish army's military buildup at the Iraqi border, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said, "We do not accept Turkey's trans-border operation against Iraq."

No such action can be maintained and such a situation will not be accepted by the United States either, said Talabani.

Reelected president on Saturday, the Iraqi leader met Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader and local Kurdish administration President Massoud Barzani in Erbil (Arbil), where he also came together with the US Ambassador to Bagdat (Baghdad), Zalmay Khalilzad.

At a joint news briefing held after the meeting, Talabani, concerning the news that Turkey is preparing to conduct operations within Iraqi borders, said: "There is no trans-border operation; Turkey is conducting operations within its own borders for the moment as far as we know. However, we oppose Turkey conducting any operation within Iraq’s borders. I do not think the US will accept this either. There were agreements about other countries entering up to 15 kilometers inside Iraqi territory, but these treaties are no longer valid.”

In his statement, Talabani said they support Jawad Maliki, the new prime ministerial candidate determined by the United Shiite Alliance. "If Maliki quickly established a powerful government that includes all groups, he will be an asset for the Iraqi people."

Khalilzad said America also supports the new prime minister. "Maliki has a strong character; I think he will be supported by all groups. The US considers the militias and other illegal groups as a serious challenge to stability in Iraq being formed on the basis of law."

These groups, the ambassador added, are the infrastructure of civil war.

Barzani said, "I congratulate Talabani once again. We are extremely happy to see him in the presidency at a time when Iraq needs him." Kurds are also pleased that Maliki was called to form the new government.

[imported_RUDO]

PKK prepares in Kandil against military operation

PKK prepares in Kandil against military operation

Mustafa Gokturk - The New Anatolian / Haci Umran



Members of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have started preparations in expectation of a military operation against its base in mountainous northern Iraq.

The high alert issued by the organization follows Iran's shelling of PKK-affiliated Kurdistan Independent Life Party's (PJAK) positions near Haci Umran, just inside mountainous northern Iraq. The Iranian Army, late last week, sent thousands of additional forces to the region and bombed an area where PJAK members were trying to cross the border into the Iran.

Turkey has also deployed thousands of additional troops in the southeast and along its borders with Iraq and Iran to intensify operations against the PKK.

On Sunday a spokesperson for the PKK told The New Anatolian at Mt. Kandil, 120 kilometers east of Erbil, that these are critical times for the PKK and that the camp is on high alert. He also said that it is forbidden for journalists to enter the camp and take photos following recent developments.

Talabani: We oppose any cross-border operation

Iraqi President and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Jalal Talabani over the weekend said he opposed any possible cross-border operation by Turkey.

Talabani, following his meeting with Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Massoud Barzani and U.S. Ambassador to Baghdad Zalmay Khalilzad in Erbil, gave a joint press conference.

"There is no cross-border operation; Turkey is conducting operations within its own borders for the moment as far as we know," Talabani said in response to questions. He added:

"However, we oppose Turkey conducting any operation within Iraq's borders. I do not think the U.S. would accept this either. There were agreements about other countries entering up to 15 kilometers inside Iraqi territory, but these treaties are no longer valid."

[imported_RUDO]

Eighty children to face charges for deadly riots in Diyarbakır

Eighty children to face charges for deadly riots in Diyarbakır

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News


Eighty children from Diyarbakır will face charges carrying sentences of between nine years, six months and 24 years' imprisonment for the part they played in deadly riots late last month.

A Diyarbakır prosecutor charged the children with membership in a criminal organization, destroying state property, preventing state officials from carrying out their duties and violating the Protests and Meetings Law.

The riots were the worst urban violence to hit the region in a decade, reviving bitter memories of the heyday of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighting that has so far claimed more than 37,000 lives.

Three of the dead were children, one aged only three, while most of the injured were security forces, in the clashes officials blamed on the PKK, which has waged an armed battle against the central government since 1984.

The brunt of the violence was in the city of Diyarbakır, with lesser incidents shaking the nearby city of Batman.

More than 300 rioters were arrested during the incidents that Ankara has partly blamed on the Danish-based Kurdish-language Roj TV, which according to officials recently broadcast appeals for civil disobedience and for shops in Diyarbakır to close down.

The unrest began when thousands of demonstrators confronted security forces after the funeral of four of 14 alleged PKK militants killed two days previously in a gun battle with Turkish army troops.

"For those who keep their children on the streets or allow them to be used by the [terrorists], their tears tomorrow will be in vain," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had said at the time.

[imported_RUDO]

Turkey presses for US action against PKK

Turkey presses for US action against PKK

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Talk of a cross-border operation is a reminder to Rice of growing Turkish frustration

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News


U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is arriving today in Ankara for talks with Turkish officials, and she is likely to see that Turkish frustration over U.S. inactivity against the presence of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) bases in Iraq has grown even further since her last trip here.

Apparently aimed at reminding Rice of Turkish frustration with U.S. inaction against the PKK in Iraq, Chief of Staff Gen. Hilmi Özkök reiterated that Turkey had the right under international law to carry out cross-border operations in Iraqi territory to destroy PKK bases.

“If the conditions arise, like every sovereign country, we will use those rights,” Özkok said at a reception on the anniversary of the establishment of Parliament on Sunday night.

The U.S. secretary of state, for her part, is expected to focus on Iran's nuclear program, another issue on which Turkish and U.S. positions are not identical. Although Turkey opposes Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons, it wants a diplomatic solution to the current dispute and is against a military operation or extensive economic sanctions. Turkish officials say there has been no U.S. demand for military cooperation on a possible operation on Iran to deter the country from pursuing its contentious nuclear program. They also insist Turkish reluctance for such cooperation is known by the United States.

[imported_RUDO]

DTP: Stop the operations

DTP: Stop the operations

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News


Selim Sadak, a former Democracy Party (DEP) deputy and one of the founding members of the Democratic Society Party (DTP), called for the suspension of operations by security forces on Monday.

Speaking at the founding ceremony of the DTP Nusaybin branch, Sadak criticized the arrest of DTP deputies adding: “The executives of this party are behind bars. Those who do this should be ashamed. They imprisoned politicians and intellectuals.”

He said security forces need to suspend operations against terrorists, adding: “They deployed hundreds of thousands of troops to the border in 1992, too. They initiated operations within the country but still failed to find a cure. The cure lies in pursuing those who benefit from upheaval and the perpetrators of the Şemdinli bombing. The cure is to pursue those suspects whom Van Prosecutor Ferhat Sarıkaya accused.”

On Nov. 9 of last year an explosion occurred at a bookstore in Şemdinli, and two noncommissioned officers are currently on trial for perpetrating the act. Van Prosecutor Sarıkaya was disbarred for claims he made in an indictment he filed over the explosion. Sarıkaya had accused Land Forces Commander Gen. Yaşar Büyükanit of complicity in the explosion.

“The solution is not to pressure the people,” Sadak said. “They suspended the prosecutor who accused the criminal gangs. The DTP is such a strong party that all the parties in Parliament unite to attack it. You visit Diyarbakır and say, ‘The Kurdish problem is my problem,' and then refuse to recognize the people of Şemdinli as witnesses.”

He said they didn't want anyone's blood to be spilled, neither that of the soldiers nor of the young Kurds. “They're all citizens of this country. The operations need to be suspended. If not, Kurds will start to look somewhere else, and then it will be too late. No one will be able to do anything, including me.”

[Gavur]

Kurds Culture On Verge Of Extinction In Democratic Turkey

By Hozan Kapri

Kurdish Media, UK
April 26 2006

Turkey, the only democracy in the Middle East, is the topic of this
paper. It has been said that "Ataturk secularized and modernized
Turkey". The Attaturk's so-called modernization and secularization has
caused the Kurdish people great suffering. Secularization, however,
does not mean democracy.

It has become a tradition for many people, especially in the Middle
East, to view secularism as democracy. Even Saddam Hussein viewed
his country as a social democratic country. So did the Shah of Iran.

Although these leaders were good for their own ethnic group, especially
Ataturk, their hands are stained red by Kurdish blood.

Ataturk modernized the Turkish language and switched it to the Latin
based alphabet. Yet he banned the Kurdish language and forced the
Kurds to speak Turkish.

Today many Turks as well as the Turkish government try to justify such
acts by saying things such as "We simple made the Turkish language
the official language of Turkey." That's hardly surprising.

Turks try to find a justification for everything, even if it is the
genocide and elimination of other cultures. While it's a well-known
fact that the indigenous Armenians underwent a genocide and mass
exodus in the 1915, yet Turkey and Turks try to twist the story
and come up with whatever it can to try and present it to divert
attention from the genocide. Nothing change the historical fact that
Turks genocide Armenians.

The Turkish government has no shame in forcing Kurdish children
everyday to say "Happy is he who calls himself a Turk." Turks love
to champion behind other Turkish-speaking people around the world,
such as Turkmen's in Iraq and Turks in the Greek Thrace, such as
Kamran Inan, a Turkish sheikh.

One Turkish Internet site claims how Turks in the western Greek Thrace
are being discriminated against and that they can't even study their
mother language. Well, if that is true, it's unfortunate.

Nobody should be deprived of studying in their mother language. But
why are Turks and the Turkish government so sensitive when the more
than millions of Kurds of Northern Kurdistan (Turkey) demand for
the same right that Turks are demanding in Greece? Or you believe
that Kurds are less than Turks. Has any Turk ever stopped and asked
themselves why are the Kurds being deprived of the same right that
Turks are asking for themselves in other parts of the world? Or are
they going to stand by the famous Turkish saying "Herºey Turkiye icin"
which means everything only for Turkey or Turks.

What I have been seen over the years is many international cultural
festivals in Turkey. Cultural festival in Turkey! - That really
is an oxy moron. Turkey deprives Kurdish people of basic cultural
rights and yet host international cultural festivals. Turks speak of
"democratic rights for Turks", but the only democratic rights that
Kurds get is the burning of their villages and internal displacement,
and banning Kurdish language and Kurdish history from schools.

Beautiful Kurdish folk songs are banned and have been since Ataturk
founded the 'modern' state of Turkey.

Yes, this is Turkish democracy.

Unfortunately democracy has been the most used and abused word in
the modern era. People kick it around like a soccer ball. It has a
different meaning everywhere you go. It is a word where people have
used it to gain more rights. It also has been a word which has been
used to xxxxxle the rights of many nations. The ill fortune Kurdish
nation has been one of them. They have been gassed and buried alive
by tens of thousands in Iraq under what Saddam called "Socialist
democracy."

Kurds have been tortured and forced to assimilate in 'democratic'
Turkey, and their culture and language almost on the verge of
extinction.

The Turks will gain a lot by meetings Kurdish demands. It will surely
decrease the violence that has plagued the Northern Kurdistan. Let's
hope that the 21st century will give birth to a federal entity where
both Turks as well as Kurds live side by side, yet both free and
prosperous. No one can loose in such a peaceful environment. There
are many gains to be made.

[imported_RUDO]

Turkey decisive about going after PKK

Turkey decisive about going after PKK

The New Anatolian / Ankara with agencies



Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday reproached the Iraqi government for expressing unease over Turkey's recent military deployment along the Iraqi border to counter terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants.

"[The mobilization] is solely aimed at preventing the terrorist organization's infiltration into Turkey," Gul said Thursday. Referring to the Iraqi government's concerns, he stressed, "If they can't deal with terrorists and are unable to counter terrorism then they should be happy about our steps against terrorists."

Iraq handed Turkey a diplomatic note on Wednesday requesting information on a recent Turkish military build-up along the Iraqi border. Iraqi diplomats also expressed unease with alleged cross-border operations by Turkish special forces.

But the Turkish foreign minister told reporters yesterday in Edirne, before heading to Bulgaria for NATO-European Union meeting, that the Iraqi government shouldn't be uneasy with Turkey's recent measures but should rather assist them.

Without explicitly naming the country, Gul referred to Iran and said another neighboring country didn't take the PKK threat seriously in the past and is now facing serious problems as a result. "The same could be true for Iraq in the future," Gul warned.

"I've spoken about the realities in Iraq before. What's taking place is a routine annual spring reinforcement. It's solely aimed at preventing the terrorist organization from infiltrating Turkey," Gul further stressed. He also added that Turkey is determined to continue with the new measures until the new Iraqi government is up and running.

AA report creates confusion

The Anatolia news agency's first report on Gul's remarks said that the foreign minister stressed, ''What's being done in the north of Iraq aims to prevent the infiltration of terrorists into Turkey." Later the agency made a correction and omitted the phrase "north of Iraq,"changing it to "measures in southeast Anatolia." Foreign ministry sources on Wednesday denied media reports that Turkish troops have crossed into northern Iraq in pursuit of the PKK. Other independent agencies have also quoted Gul talking about measures in Turkey.

Turkey has deployed more than 30,000 additional troops in the southeast, along the rugged border with Iraq and Iran to fight PKK terrorists and stop them from infiltrating across the Iraqi border.

The Turkish deployment, which has been going on for several weeks, is boosting an already large garrison in the region that, by some estimates, tops 250,000 soldiers.

PKK terrorists have several bases in northern Iraq. They typically step up their attacks in the spring, when winter snow melts, clearing mountain passes in the region. Turkey often increases its military activities in response.

Turkish soldiers have been pursuing PKK across the border into Iraq, penetrating up to 10 kilometers, as agreed with the Iraqi side before the U.S. occupation.

Turkey already has an estimated 2,000 soldiers stationed inside Iraq and limited incursions inside of Iraq in pursuit of rebels have not been uncommon in the past.

Terrorist PKK violence has claimed more that 37,000 lives since 1984.

[imported_RUDO]

Barzani denies reports of Turkish cross-border operation

Barzani denies reports of Turkish cross-border operation

The New Anatolian / Erbil



Brushing aside reports that Turkish forces launch cross-border operations, Iraq's Federal Kurdish Region President Massoud Barzani said yesterday that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) are in Turkish territory.

Barzani, who is also the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), was interviewed for the KDP's official website, Peyamner. His statements came after news reports claiming that the Turkish Armed Forces launch cross-border operations to hunt Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants stationed in the northern Iraq.

"Kurdistan will do its best to secure its territory. There are no cross-border operations and there cannot be," Barzani said.

Underlining that securing and protecting northern Iraq is the responsibility of the Iraqi government, Barzani said, "We don't want our neighbors to interfere in Iraq's domestic affairs."