VOA: Turkey/Kurds 2

[root at newsdesk.aps.nl]

From: newsdesk at newsdesk.aps.nl (Newsdesk Amsterdam)
Subject: Re: VOA: Turkey/Kurds 2
Reply-To: root at newsdesk.aps.nl

------ Forwarded from : Haldun Haznedar <haldun at avalanche.micro.ti.com> --------

date=3/21/95
byline= Douglas Roberts

Intro: Thousands of Turkish troops, backed by warplanes and
helicopters, are now in the second day of a major operation
against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. VOA's Douglas Roberts
in Geneva reports the offensive has prompted appeals for
restraint from UN officials, concerned for the fate of more than
four-thousand refugees in the area.

Text: Officials of the UN high commissioner for refugees
estimate that about 13-thousand Turkish Kurds have fled to
northern Iraq during the past year. And more than one-third of
them are living inside the strip of territory along the border
that has now been sealed off by Turkish troops in their offensive
against guerrillas of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party,
known as the PKK.

In a press communique issued late Monday, and again at a news
briefing Tuesday, the UNHCR voiced concern for the refugees
and urged the Turkish armed forces to show restraint.

Spokesman Ron Redmond says the UN's concern was heightened by
unconfirmed reports that Turkish troops are rounding up Kurds in
the warzone and taking them back across the border.

                      ///  Redmond act  ///

         If these are armed PKK fighters, that is one thing;
         but if they are unarmed civilian refugees, we would
         consider this a very serious  matter indeed. So once
         again, we ask the Turkish military to take great care
         that they clearly distinguish between civilian refugees
         and armed activists.

                        ///  end act  ///

Mr. Redmond says UNHCR officials travelled to the warzone on
Tuesday in an attempt to gain first-hand information on the fate
of the refugees.

The UN agency provides food and basic medical care for the
Kurdish refugees. Late last year, most of them were transferred
from the border region to a new facility 160 kilometers to the
south. UN officials acknowledge that the move was carried out
to ensure that the refugee camps would not be perceived as
launching pads for guerrilla incursions into Turkey.

21-Mar-95 9:20 am EST (1420 utc)

Source: Voice of America

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