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

REVUE DE PRESSE~PRESS REVIEW~BERHEVOKAÇAPÊ~RNISTA STAMPA~DENTRO DE LA PRENSA~BASIN ÖZETi
turki"h dail~ m'\\S - .Janl1ar~ (l, 199 ...
Tehran Times.' West trying to create a new Israel in N. Iraq
'Today, the conspiracy to dismember Iraq's Kurdistan stands out as a serious peril'
Analolia/Associ:tled
Pres",
NICOSIA- A prominent Iranian newspaper
Wednesday claimed the West had
helped the dominant Kurdish faction in
northern Iraq to suppress a rebellion bv
fundamentalist militants. -
The Tehran Times, whose editorials routinely
reflect the foreign policy of President
Hashemi Rafsanjani, called for a
meeting of the Iranian, Turkish and Syrian
foreign ministers to counter Western efforts
at fomenting "ethnic nationalism"
among the Kurds.
"Today, the conspiracy to dismember
Iraq's Kurdistan stands out as a serious
peril," the Tehran Times said.
"Therefore, providing moral. political.
or material support to these groups by Turkey
and Syria cannot be justified, and in
this regard convening of an extraordinary
meeting of the foreign ministers of Iran,
Turkey, and Syria IS called for at this
time."
The newspaper alleged Western powers
were trying to create "a new Israel" in the
oil-rich Kurdish region of northern Iraq to
undermine Islamic unity.
"To reach this goal, the West is manipulating
the weakest link in the area's security
chain. namely the Kurds," the Englishlan(Juage
daily said.
The editOrIal was a response to recent
tightin(J in northern Iraq in which the dominant
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, or
PUK, claimed it had crushed a rebellion by
the guerrillas of a smaller Muslim fundamentalist
group.
No casualty estimates were available
from what appeared to have been weeks of
clashes.
PUK leader lalal Talabani has accused
Iran of supporting the fundamentalist Islamic
Movement m Iraqi Kurdistan in an
effort to undermine the stability of the
Kurdish "safe haven."
The enclave was set up in northern Iraq
in the.aftermath of the 199 I Gulf War.
At the time Iraqi forces were seeking
~etribution for a failed Kurdish uprismg.
.
Warplanes from Britain, France and the
United States continue to provide air cover
with a "no-fly zone" to keep out Iraqi aircraft.
"Taking advantage of the post-Persian
Gulf war conditions, the West strives to
promote 'ethnic nationalism' aimed at pavmg
the way for the dismemberment of the
regional countries," the Tehran Times
smd.
It accused Talabani of carrying out the
Western "plot." The Iranian government
has been openly critical of Western efforts
to protect the Kurdish zone, which has become
a de-facto state with its own admin~
istrative bodies.
The safe haven has served as an inspiration
to Iranian 6.5 million Kurds who also
want autonomy in Iran.
Last luly, Iran mounted a cross-border
raid into Iraq to strike at Kurdish rebel
bases.
Sources claim systematic evacuation
of the southeastern town of Cizre
Residents of 400 houses'in town reportedly forced out
I . Turkish Daily News
ANKARAIDIYARBAKIR- Local sources claim
that state-controlled paramilitary village guards in
the southeastern town of Cizre, have started evacuating
civilians from a crowded district in a bid to
curb Xurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) activities
there. Villagers arriving in the southeastern provincial
capit~l ofDiy~b~ o~ Tues~y, said that
400 houses ID the Clzre dlstnct of DIele had already
been evacuated at gunpoint. They said the
. remaining 600 houses in the same district were also
being evacuated.
Local officials in Diyarbakir said they had not
he~rd of the development but would look into
claims. Villagers, who refused to be identified for
fear of retaliation, said they too had applied to local
officials but were ~iven no explanation. The
village guards, they saId, were brought to Cizre
from the villages of Silopi and had sellled down in
a nearby neighborhood. The Cizre district has
come to be known as a PKK stronghold.
Villagers claim thattheir lives are threatened and
that they are forced to li~ten to the guards. The fate
of the evacuated houses IS not yet known.
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