At 03:22 17-2-02 -0500, Gautam Mukunda wrote: >Now, I think that the Turkish government is more capable of assessing its >Kurdish problem than Jeroen is.
http://www.fas.org/asmp/profiles/turkey_background_kurds.htm From the article: "The Kurds in Turkey comprise over 20 percent of the total Turkish population. Yet until 1991, the use of the Kurdish language (although widespread) was illegal. To this day, any talk that hints of Kurdish nationalism is deemed separatism, and grounds for imprisonment. The Turkish government has consistently thwarted attempts by the Kurds to organize politically. Kurdish political parties are shut down one after another, and party members are harassed and imprisoned for "crimes of opinion."" "Adding to the grievances of Turkey's Kurds is the economic underdevelopment of the southeast. The Ankara government has systematically withheld resources from the Kurdish region. As a result, there are two distinct Turkeys: the northern and western regions are highly developed and cosmopolitan, part of the "first world," while the south and east are truly of the "third world."" "The disparity and repression led to the formation of an armed separatist movement, the PKK, in 1984. The state immediately responded to this threat with increased force, deploying some 300,000 troops in the southeast at an annual cost of $8 billion. The state immediately responded to this threat with increased force, deploying some 300,000 troops in the southeast at an annual cost of $8 billion." And if you can stomach it, take a look at http://www.diaspora-net.org/Turkey/kurds.html. The page features a photograph of Turkish soldiers proudly posing with the decapitated remains of fallen Kurdish guerrillas. I think stuff like that goes a long way in "assessing the Kurdish problem". Jeroen _________________________________________________________________________ Wonderful World of Brin-L Website: http://www.Brin-L.com Tom's Photo Gallery: http://tom.vanbaardwijk.com
