Turkey

Strikes against PKK Reauthorized by Turkey

Turkey has reauthorized strikes in Iraq on members of the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK). The conflict between the Turks and the PKK has been going on for over two decades. In this time, about 44,000 have been killed. The action by the government to extend the government mandate was issued days after soldiers were killed in an attack outside Diyarbakir, a primarily Kurdish city in southeast Turkey. The President of Turkey, Abdullah Gul, says that the air strikes and ground operations will be “used solely against the pinpointed targets of the terror organization.”

Since1984, PKK has been fighting for its right to self-government. This rebel group does not identify with the ideals of the Turks or the Iraqis. The United States, Turkey and European Union consider the Kurdish Workers’ Party to be a terrorist group. The mandate has worried the United States because it has close ties with the Iraqi Kurds. The Kurds consider southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq to be their ethnic homeland. This is why the battle between the Turkish government has dragged out for such a long period of time. They continue to fight for their own territory because they do not associate themselves as Turks or Iraqis. They are the Kurds. Turkey’s prime minister has sated that solving this issue is “about diplomacy.” The issue has existed for a long time and diplomacy between the Kurds and Turks has not been effective yet. Perhaps some compromise between the groups’ ideals can be met in the near future.

Identity

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2008/10/200810816312888132.html

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=a01cde7d-ddff-466c-8dee-43a663d57edb

October 10, 2008 at 11:26 am