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| Iraq |
| Iraqi Kurds wary of PKK fighters from Turkey |
| 2013-05-12 |
| Iraqi Kurds living near the border are wary of thousands of Kurdish fighters leaving Turkey for northern Iraq, and hope the move does not lead to more Turkish air and artillery strikes. For years, Turkey’s military has targeted fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, keeping farmers from their land and sometimes killing and wounding civilians. The PKK, which has fought a 29-year nationalist campaign against Ankara, is now withdrawing its fighters into Iraq, where it already has bases, as part of a peace drive with Turkey. While it is a positive sign for peace prospects, the movement of some 2,000 additional PKK fighters into Iraq has not put residents at ease. “We hope not to hear the sounds of Turkish artillery and airplanes bombarding our mountains again,” said Mohammad Saeed, 47, a resident of the town of Al-Amadia, near the border with Turkey. “We are afraid that the fighting will start again,” Saeed said. |
| Posted by:tipper |