Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEW-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ-RlVISTA STAMPA-DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASIN ÖZETi
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IraqlKurds
Reuter
ANKARA- Iraqi Kurdish authorities
have cracked down on Turkish
'rebd Kurds to force thern to quit'
mountains bordering Turkey, a
spokesman said on Friday: '
"They must vacate the are,a. If
they don't, stronger measures wIll be
taken," Safeen Dizayee, Ankara representative
of the Iraqi Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP); told
Reuters, He said the security arm of
the Kurdish regional.government had
dosed all offices run by or on behalf
of the Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) in northern Iraq after issuing
a statement on Thursdày which
accused the group of breaking a8reements.
Iraqi Kurdish guerrillas
launched an offensive to drive the
s'eparatist PKK from its border bases
a year ago and Turkish forces
crossed the frontier to complete the
operation. The. Iraqi Kurdish state-.
ment said the PKK had violated
agreement,~ signed by it,S leader
Abdullah Ocalan after hiS forces
were defeated làst year, and renewed
announce crackdown on PKK
!n ~prilthis year, It li.sted a:series of year, whe,n,thou,~and~ of guerrillas
mCldents from July m which PKK were moblhsed. It will probably be
units attacked or kidnapp'ed Iraqi localis,ed, with our peshmerga sur-
Kurdish peshmerga guerrillas, pre- roundmg the PKK' where~er th~y
vented Iraqi Kurds from resettling find them. B~t the PKK WIll r~S1St
border villa~es and provoked and there ,WIll bebloodshed, ,he
Turkish air raIds this month which said. He said he had told the Turkish
killed nine Iraqi Kurdish civilians . authorities about the latest moves
arid forced the evacuation of 30 vil- against the PKK and urged Ankara
lages. "We are determined not to notto get involved: "We hav~ ask~d
allow anyone to interfere in the secu- Turkey to cease Its operatIons In
ritY and 'stability of our ci,tizens an,d 'northern Iraq. We are mo're ,eage,~
jeopardise our democratic expen- than they are to secure our temtory.
ment" the statement said.
Iraqi Kurds cannot afford to anta80-
"We ask the PKK leadership to nise Turkey, their main supp!y Ime
rethink its position i~ a pea~eful and . and th~ base .for ~estern alrcr~f!
positive way and abide by ItS agree- protectmg their terntory from Iraqi
ments with the regional govermnent government forces.
of Kurdistan," Turkishgenerals have rèpeatedly
The statement said the PKK had- sent troops and aircraft across the
increased its presence in t~e border border to haIry the PK,K in northern
mountains,rather than movm8 away Iraq., Seeking an Independent
from them, and contacts with the Kurdish state carved out of Turkey,
PKK had failed to resolve the prob- Iran, Iraq ,and Syria, the PKK ~as
lem, Dizayee, estimating the num~er b.een. wagln~ an ~rmed campaign
of PKK. fighters in the borderregIOn . since 1984 I~ wh~ch nearly 7;500
at up to 1,000, .said he expected people were killed m east and southfighting,
but .not as much as last east Turkey so far.
Iran to step up security inKurdish province
, Reuter set up for security in.the province. Democratic Party of Iranian
NICOSIA. Iran, facing increasing"God willing, we will see positive Kurdistan, one of the rebel groups
guerrilla attacks by Kurdish rebels,' results bècause!of this deCISion in fighting Tehran, reported two attacks
says it will setup a strike force to the near future," he said. in Kordestan' s neighbouring
deal with security problems in its Autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels provinces., '
Kordestan province. . have launched a senes of attacks on The party said is guerrillas
"We will do our best to establish Revolutionary Guards andgovern- ambushed a government car and
security throughout the country and ment buildings in Kordestan and killed seven intelligence agents outespecially
in Kordestan province," other Kurdish-populated provinces side Salmas, 660 km (410 miles)
Tehran Radio, monitored by the along Iran's western border with Iraq northwest of Tehran near Turkey's
British Broadcasting Corporation, and Turkey. border, on October 2, A day earlier
quoted Interior Mi,nister ,Ali . Iranian newspapersoccasionally and some 450 km (280 miles) to the
Mohammad Besharatl as saYing. report the clashes, but the Tehransouth, rebels raided a state agricul-
Speaking in Kordestan' s capital Radio report made no mention of tural station near Sar-e Pol-e Zahab
Sanandaj on Thursday, Besharati any particulr incident. and destroyed tanker trucks and
said a special "strike force" would be In its latest statement the other vehicles, it said.
PKK claims kidnap of American, New Zealander
ReuterS
ANKARA- The outlawed
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) said
on Friday they had kIdnapped an
American and a New Zealander in
eastern Turkey, where at least 16
tourists have been abducted this year,
The German-based Kurd-Ha news
agency quoted a PKK'statement as
saying that PKK fighters had seized
the two men at a roadblock on the
main road between the eastern cities
of Erzincan and Erzurum on October
9. It said the American, named as
Patrick Connor, and the New
Zealander, identified as Ernis
Dougar, were being held until their
governments officially contacted the
PKK. .
The U.S, and New Zealand
embassies in Ankara could, not
immediately confirmthät their
nationals had been kidnapped.
"Their safetyis in danger in the
region where Turkish bombings and
operations are going on," the PKK
statement said. .
"Therefore they will be the guests
of our guerrillas until their governments
intervenebecause theIr lives
would be indanger if they are left to
wander in the area by themselves."
The PKK has repeatedly warned
foreign tourists to stay out of eastern
and southeastern Turkey, where its
nine-year-old independence war has
cost more than 7,500 lives.
Its, latest statement said the
American and New Zealander had
been kidnapped for "defying the
PKK prohibition on unauthorised
entry into Kurdistan".
It said the Turkish state would be
responsible for any harm which
might come to the hostages.
The PKK has released all 16
Western tourists kidnapped in July
and August, after holding some of
them for several weeks.
Western governments have refused
to negotiate with the Marxist PKK,
which they regard as a terrorist
organisation, for the freedom of their
hostages. However, there have been
independent contacts in the past
between weste'rn deputies and the
PKK.