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Garnik Asatryan: Turkey And Iran Share A Common Threat, Kurdish Prob

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  • Garnik Asatryan: Turkey And Iran Share A Common Threat, Kurdish Prob

    GARNIK ASATRYAN: TURKEY AND IRAN SHARE A COMMON THREAT, KURDISH PROBLEM

    PanARMENIAN.Net
    09.02.2010 16:06 GMT+04:00

    /PanARMENIAN.Net/ There is a problem Tehran and Ankara have common
    interests in its solution: the Kurdish problem, head of the Department
    for Iranian Studies at Yerevan State University professor Garnik
    Asatryan told a press conference today. "Both countries treat the
    Kurdistan Workers Party (CRE) the same way: the Kurdish problem is
    a common threat to these countries and is a unifying factor," the
    scholar said.

    In relation to Iran's position to the regional activity of Turkey,
    the professor said, that Iran and Turkey have always been rivals in the
    region. With regard to the Turkic-speaking population of Iran, Garnik
    Asatryan stressed, that there are around 33 ethnic groups in Iran.

    "Iran is a multiethnic country. There are no national minorities.

    Turkic-speaking population reaches 9-10 million in the country. All of
    them are Iranians, but they speak Turkish dialect, " Garnik Asatryan
    said. According to him, the Western forces, as well as Azerbaijan,
    often used this factor to encourage separatist moods in Iran.

    The Kurdistan Workers' Party, best known as PKK, is a Kurdish
    separatist organization which launched an armed struggle against
    Turkey which claimed over 45,000 lives within a 20 year long activity
    period. The group was founded in the late 1970s and led by Abdullah
    O"calan. The PKK's ideology is founded on revolutionarysocialism
    and Kurdish nationalism. The PKK's goal has been to create an
    independent, Kurdish state in Turkey. Kurdistan is a geographical
    region that comprises parts of southeastern Turkey, northeastern Iraq,
    northeastern Syria and northwestern Iran, where the Kurdish population
    is the majority. This goal has now been moderated to claiming cultural
    and political rights for the ethnic Kurdish population in Turkey.

    Since 1978, the PKK has been engaged in armed conflict with the Turkish
    state. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization internationally
    by a number of states and organizations, including the United States,
    United Nations, NATO and theEuropean Union. The organization is
    listed as one of the 12 active terrorist organizations in Turkey as
    of 2007 according to the Counter-Terrorism and Operations Department
    of the Turkish police. Turkey labeled the organization as an ethnic
    secessionist organization that uses terrorism and the threat of force
    against both civilian and military targets for the purpose of achieving
    its political goal.

    Kurdish politician Abdu"lmelik F?rat claims that Democratic Society
    Party (DTP) was founded by PKK, and that 80 percent of Kurds do not
    vote for this party. However, senior DTP leaders maintain that they
    support a unified Turkey within a democratic framework. Aysel Tug(luk
    published an article in Radikal in May 2007 as the co-president of DTP,
    to prove that claim.
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