Turkish military backs Kurd move

Article reports that Turkey’s powerful military intervened in August 2009 in a heated political row over government efforts to extend the rights of Kurdish citizens, supporting the initiative but opposing any contacts with militants. Ilker Basbug, chief of general staff of the Turkish army, said the army’s fight against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) should be accompanied by the state taking 'the necessary measures in the economic, socio-cultural and international fields'.

EurActiv, 31.8.09: Turkey poised to give Kurds more rights http://www.euractiv.com/en/enlargement/turkey-poised-give-kurds-rights/article-184975

BBC News, 11.9.09: Turkey approves Kurdish studies http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8250361.stm

ESO: Background information: Kurdish policy: Massacre highlights difficulties in closing damaging rift http://www.europeansources.info/record/kurdish-policy-massacre-highlights-difficulties-in-closing-damaging-rift/

ESO: Background information: The Kurdish Issue: Can the AK Party Escape Securitization? http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-kurdish-issue-can-the-ak-party-escape-securitization/

ESO: Background information: Turkey’s New Approaches toward the PKK, Iraqi Kurds and the Kurdish Question http://www.europeansources.info/record/turkeys-new-approaches-toward-the-pkk-iraqi-kurds-and-the-kurdish-question/

ESO: Background information: The AKP and the Kurdish Issue: What Went Wrong? http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-akp-and-the-kurdish-issue-what-went-wrong/

Wikipedia: Kurds in Turkey http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurds_in_Turkey

---