Sunday, 04 November 2007,
AP PHOTO
AFP
Turkish Kurds protested against military incursion.
Some 5,000 Turkish Kurds protested against a military incursion into Iraq, saying such a move would enflame ethnic tensions in the region and plunge the local economy into ruin.
"If there is a military incursion it will be a war between Turks and Kurds," said 19-year old Hasan at the rally in Silopi, the closest Turkish city to the Iraqi border.
Turkey has reportedly massed 100,000 troops in preparation to strike Iraqi bases of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a bloody 23-year campaign for Kurdish self-rule in southeast Turkey which has claimed more than 37,000 lives.
Ankara accuses the autonomous Kurdish government in northern Iraq of sheltering and helping rebels.
Protesters here said they reject violence but demand more cultural and political rights for Kurds, who make up a fifth of Turkey's population and who have faced widespread discrimination as a people.
"We don't want a solution by the gun, we want a solution by the pen, through dialogue," said Ahmet Ali, another protester.
Security was tight in this restive Kurdish-dominated region, with riot police and snipers on nearby buildings monitoring the peaceful rally.
The protest took place two days before a crucial meeting between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President George W. Bush, seen as a last-ditch effort to dissuade Turkey from cross-border military operations.
Washington and Baghdad fear a Turkish military incursion into Iraq would wreak havoc in the most stable part of the war-torn country.
Tensions between Iraq and Turkey rose after October 21, when PKK rebels according to Ankara came in from northern Iraq and ambushed a military unit, killing 12 soldiers and capturing eight.
With the possibility of an internationalized conflict, people here also fear that their economic lifeline -- the Habur border post 15 kilometres (nine miles) south of here -- could be cut off.
Thousands of trucks pass through that border daily, carrying everything from construction materials to food and household appliances into Iraq.
"If the border will close, we will have no chance to make a living," said 19-year old Serdan, who said everyone with a job in his his family was a truck driver.
Turkey has already imposed some economic sanctions on northern Iraq and the media here has also speculated that the government could decide to divert its main land transport route from here to posts on the Syrian border.
"If there is a military incursion it will be a war between Turks and Kurds," said 19-year old Hasan at the rally in Silopi, the closest Turkish city to the Iraqi border.
Turkey has reportedly massed 100,000 troops in preparation to strike Iraqi bases of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a bloody 23-year campaign for Kurdish self-rule in southeast Turkey which has claimed more than 37,000 lives.
Ankara accuses the autonomous Kurdish government in northern Iraq of sheltering and helping rebels.
Protesters here said they reject violence but demand more cultural and political rights for Kurds, who make up a fifth of Turkey's population and who have faced widespread discrimination as a people.
"We don't want a solution by the gun, we want a solution by the pen, through dialogue," said Ahmet Ali, another protester.
Security was tight in this restive Kurdish-dominated region, with riot police and snipers on nearby buildings monitoring the peaceful rally.
The protest took place two days before a crucial meeting between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President George W. Bush, seen as a last-ditch effort to dissuade Turkey from cross-border military operations.
Washington and Baghdad fear a Turkish military incursion into Iraq would wreak havoc in the most stable part of the war-torn country.
Tensions between Iraq and Turkey rose after October 21, when PKK rebels according to Ankara came in from northern Iraq and ambushed a military unit, killing 12 soldiers and capturing eight.
With the possibility of an internationalized conflict, people here also fear that their economic lifeline -- the Habur border post 15 kilometres (nine miles) south of here -- could be cut off.
Thousands of trucks pass through that border daily, carrying everything from construction materials to food and household appliances into Iraq.
"If the border will close, we will have no chance to make a living," said 19-year old Serdan, who said everyone with a job in his his family was a truck driver.
Turkey has already imposed some economic sanctions on northern Iraq and the media here has also speculated that the government could decide to divert its main land transport route from here to posts on the Syrian border.
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