Sunday, June 20, 2010

Turkey's Ongoing War with the Kurds

Turkey is again fighting the Kurds, and Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan is pleased to draw the attention of the Turkish street away from this debacle and have it focus on Israel instead. But make no mistake: Turkey is killing Kurdish civilians in Iraq, as reported today by AP:

"A local official says Turkish air raids in Iraq's Kurdish north have killed a teenage girl — the first reported civilian death from shelling that began last week.

Turkish warplanes often bomb suspected Turkish Kurdish rebel positions in the self-rule mountainous region. But the areas are sparsely populated and many have fled the villages being targeted.

Karmang Ezzat, mayor of the Soran border town, said Sunday that the girl's mother and 3-year-old brother also were wounded in the previous night's attack.

He says the planes pounded seven villages in Irbil province in a raid that started at 8:30 p.m. and lasted about 90 minutes."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h9VhSca_oZldvbO-XktR7l7Sa_PgD9GET0I01

Turkey is also losing troops in this war. In the past two days, 12 Turkish soldiers died, 43 have been killed since March, and Erdogan is threatening that Kurdish rebels will "drown in their own blood" (http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkish-pm-erdogan-says-pkk-will-drown-in-blood-after-attacks-2010-06-20).

Query: Why are Obama and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon not demanding an international inquiry, given that this fighting over the years has cost the lives of some 30,000 ethnic Kurds?

Tens of thousands of dead Kurds seeking autonomy? Hundreds of thousands of Uzbek refugees? Let's face it: If it doesn't involve Israel and those "despicable" Jews, Obama, Ban Ki-moon and the Left couldn't care less.

5 comments:

  1. worse is that, last week, US State spokesman PJ Crowley gave Turkey the green light to keep invading Iraq to fight Kurdish "terrorism".
    and, Erdogan flames the rumour that the PKK is being helped by Israel when Erdogan is using Israel-supplied drones to hunt the Kurds (can Israel de-activate those drones?)

    Turkish Kurds insist they want more autonomy, not independence. The greatest betrayal since 1919 has been the Kurds. Yet the US under Obama is working against Kurdish self-determination, most likely because Bush43 supported the Kurds, and Obama is so determined to be NOT-Bush43.

    otoh, Tom Friedman had a good part 2 NYT column today on Turkey, albeit with zero reference to the Kurds. He highlighted the media censorship. no comments today!

    Ban ki-Moon is a greater disappointment that Obama. what a weakling.
    K2K

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  2. Thanks, K2K. You are correct re autonomy, and I have amended.

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  3. Just another reminder of how "special " we are. And there are Jews who need reminding.

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  4. JG: actually, I suspect Kurds who live in Turkey, Syria, and Iran ALL want to join a free Kurdistan centered in what is now northern Iraq. In Turkey, they can not say that, hence 'autonomy'. When I look at the map, I bet the Armenians would be very happy to help the Kurds realize that dream. I find Obama's support for this new phase of Turkey's war against their Kurds to be a terrible betrayal. More of the NOTBush43 Syndrome, leaving Iraqi Kurdistan hanging in the wind.
    I wish Israel could magically disable the drones they supplied to Turkey. (in case Ankara really is reading this, I am an American who believes a free, unified Kurdistan should be the #1 priority of the entire international community)
    K2K

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  5. Yes, Ankara has been reading, although I have made no effort to gauge their response, if any. Suffice it to say that I will not be traveling to Turkey in the coming decades.

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