UN urges Turkey to probe claims of forced suicide among women
20h13 - ANKARA, May 31, 2006 (AFP) - Allegations of disguised honor killings or forced suicides among women in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey cannot be dismissed and should be carefully investigated, a UN rapporteur said Wednesday.

Kurdish activists with Swedish citizenship risk jail in Turkey
10h06 - DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, May 31, 2006 (AFP) - Two Kurdish activists with dual Turkish-Swedish citizenship risk up to three years in jail over a press statement denouncing the military build-up in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, judicial sources said Wednesday.

Five soldiers killed in southeastern Turkey
07h27 - DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, May 31, 2006 (AFP) - Five members of Turkish the security forces were killed in clashes with armed Kurdish rebels in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast, local security officials said Wednesday.

Two wanted Saudis held in Iraqi Kurdistan: report
14h46 - RIYADH, May 30, 2006 (AFP) - Two Saudis on the kingdom's most-wanted list of suspected Al-Qaeda militants are being held in Iraqi Kurdistan, a Saudi-owned daily reported Tuesday.

Four killed in violence in southeast Turkey
14h10 - DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, May 30, 2006 (AFP) - Two soldiers and two Kurdish rebels were killed Tuesday in fresh violence in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, local security officials said.

Kurdish mayor risks jail over rebel funeral
09h28 - DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, May 30, 2006 (AFP) - The Kurdish mayor Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey risks up to one year in jail for allocating a public ambulance to transport the body of a Kurdish rebel killed in fighting with the army, judicial sources said Tuesday.

US in talks with Iraq over Turkish Kurdish rebels: ambassador
16h02 - DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, May 26, 2006 (AFP) - The United States has started talks with the new Baghdad government on "effective action" against Turkish Kurdish rebels holed up in northern Iraq, the US ambassador said here Friday.

Kurdish group says it caused huge Istanbul airport fire
18h41 - ISTANBUL, May 24, 2006 (AFP) - A radical Kurdish group said Wednesday it was responsible for a fire at the cargo section of Istanbul's Ataturk airport, the hub of international air travel in Turkey, which slightly injured three people and caused delays in air traffic.

Turkish pipeline damaged in Kurdish rebel bomb attack: Turkish official
18h10 - ANKARA, May 23, 2006 (AFP) - Armed Kurdish rebels blew up part of a natural gas pipeline in eastern Turkey early Tuesday, disrupting the flow of gas, a local official said.

Frenchwoman quits Norwegian refugee post in permit row
14h31 - OSLO, May 22, 2006 (AFP) - Frenchwoman Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen has quit as head of Norway's immigration department over a scandal in which she was accused of tacitly allowing issue of illegal residence permits to Iraqi Kurds, the government said Monday.

Landmines kill one Turkish soldier, wound another
10h37 - DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, May 22, 2006 (AFP) - A Turkish soldier was killed and another wounded Monday in separate landmine explosions blamed on Kurdish rebels in the east and southeast of the country, local security sources said.

Iraqi FM Zebari: a Kurd versed in Western ways
11h30 - BAGHDAD, May 19, 2006 (AFP) - Hoshyar Zebari, who stays on as foreign minister in Iraq's new government, is a Kurdish party stalwart well-versed in Western ways.

Iraq Kurds accuse Turkey of shelling border village
18h46 - BAGHDAD, May 17, 2006 (AFP) - An official in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish regional government accused Turkish troops of shelling a village close to the common border Wednesday without causing casualties.

Greek president warns Turkey to respect Kurdish rights
15h43 - STRASBOURG, May 17, 2006 (AFP) - Greek President Carolos Papoulia warned Turkey on Wednesday that it must respect human rights, notably those of the Kurds, if it wants closer ties with the European Union.

Kurdish group says it caused huge Istanbul airport fire
18h41 - ISTANBUL, May 24, 2006 (AFP) - A radical Kurdish group said Wednesday it was responsible for a fire at the cargo section of Istanbul's Ataturk airport, the hub of international air travel in Turkey, which slightly injured three people and caused delays in air traffic.

Turkish pipeline damaged in Kurdish rebel bomb attack: Turkish official
18h10 - ANKARA, May 23, 2006 (AFP) - Armed Kurdish rebels blew up part of a natural gas pipeline in eastern Turkey early Tuesday, disrupting the flow of gas, a local official said.

Frenchwoman quits Norwegian refugee post in permit row
14h31 - OSLO, May 22, 2006 (AFP) - Frenchwoman Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen has quit as head of Norway's immigration department over a scandal in which she was accused of tacitly allowing issue of illegal residence permits to Iraqi Kurds, the government said Monday.

Landmines kill one Turkish soldier, wound another
10h37 - DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, May 22, 2006 (AFP) - A Turkish soldier was killed and another wounded Monday in separate landmine explosions blamed on Kurdish rebels in the east and southeast of the country, local security sources said.

Iraqi FM Zebari: a Kurd versed in Western ways
11h30 - BAGHDAD, May 19, 2006 (AFP) - Hoshyar Zebari, who stays on as foreign minister in Iraq's new government, is a Kurdish party stalwart well-versed in Western ways.

Iraq Kurds accuse Turkey of shelling border village
18h46 - BAGHDAD, May 17, 2006 (AFP) - An official in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish regional government accused Turkish troops of shelling a village close to the common border Wednesday without causing casualties.

Greek president warns Turkey to respect Kurdish rights
15h43 - STRASBOURG, May 17, 2006 (AFP) - Greek President Carolos Papoulia warned Turkey on Wednesday that it must respect human rights, notably those of the Kurds, if it wants closer ties with the European Union.

Poisoned town wants Saddam's chemical suppliers to pay
11h15 - HALABJA, Iraq, May 17, 2006 (AFP) - An X-ray of Kamil Abdel Qader's lungs show a lower third that is entirely scarred -- lasting damage from the poisonous gas that rained down on his Iraqi Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988.

Kurdish TV station begins broadcasting from Sweden
17h00 - STOCKHOLM, May 15, 2006 (AFP) - The first independent non-commercial Kurdish television station said it had started broadcasting to the Middle East via satellite from an undisclosed location near Stockholm on Monday.

Four children killed in Turkey by bomb blamed on Kurd rebels
10h44 - ANKARA, May 14, 2006 (AFP) - Four children were killed in eastern Turkey over the weekend by a bomb blast blamed on Kurdish rebels, the Anatolia news agency reported Sunday.

Escapees from coalition prison recaptured by Kurdish forces
17h00 - SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq, May 13, 2006 (AFP) - Five prisoners who escaped from a high-security prison in northern Iraq jointly run with the US-led coalition have been recaptured by Kurdish forces, a Kurdish security official told AFP.

Bomb blast kills three children in eastern Turkey: report
14h41 - ANKARA, May 13, 2006 (AFP) - A bomb explosion killed three children and badly wounded another in eastern Turkey Saturday, authorities said, accusing Kurdish rebels of responsibility.

Kurdish rebel threatens to step up armed campaign in Turkey
10h10 - ANKARA, May 13, 2006 (AFP) - The jailed Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan threatened to "intensify" the armed struggle of his Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in Turkey, the pro-PKK Firsat news agency reported Saturday.

Iranian Kurds in Iraq want to return home
09h44 - ARBIL, Iraq, May 13, 2006 (AFP) - Thousands of Kurdish refugees of the 1980s Iran-Iraq war want UN recognition of their status and to return to the Iranian town from which they were driven, one of their representatives said Saturday.

Turkish soldier killed by landmine
11h20 - ANKARA, May 12, 2006 (AFP) - A Turkish soldier was killed Friday when he stepped on a landmine believed to have been planted by Kurdish rebels in the southeast of the country, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Survivors of Iraq's Kurdish killing fields struggle to scrape by
03h57 - SMUD, Iraq, May 12, 2006 (AFP) - Jalal Zawayan fought for Iraq against Iran, spent nine miserable years as a prisoner of war and then came home in 1991 to discover that his whole village and most of his family had been wiped out by Saddam Hussein's regime.

Iraqi Kurds take political union at 'face' value
10h29 - ARBIL, Iraq, May 9, 2006 (AFP) - A political union agreed upon last week that, at least on paper, has merged two long-feuding Kurdish factions in Iraq's north has yet to convince Kurds the marriage is more than a show.

More minors charged over Kurdish riots in Turkey
16h32 - DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, May 9, 2006 (AFP) - Another 36 youths under the age of 18 have been charged in connection with violent riots in Diyarbakir, the main city in Kurdish-majority southeast Turkey, judicial sources said Tuesday.

Turkish police detain suspected Kurdish bombers, seize explosives
14h44 - ISTANBUL, May 9, 2006 (AFP) - Turkish police arrested five suspected Kurdish militants and seized 7.5 kilograms (16.5 pounds) of plastic explosives believed to be destined for bomb attacks, Anatolia news agency reported Tuesday.

Married to the cause, Kurdish rebels leave love behind
03h57 - MOUNT QANDIL, Iraq, May 9, 2006 (AFP) - For this Kurdish teenager, joining a quasi-socialist rebel movement deep in the mountains on the Iraq-Iran frontier was a way to escape becoming a Muslim housewife in ultra-orthodox Iran.

Seven hurt by bombs in Iranian Kurd city
15h23 - TEHRAN, May 8, 2006 (AFP) - Two small bombs exploded in government offices in the western Iranian city of Kermanshah on Monday, wounding seven people, official media reported.

Two hurt by bombs in Iranian Kurd city
11h47 - TEHRAN, May 8, 2006 (AFP) - Two small bombs exploded in government offices in the western Iranian city of Kermanshah on Monday, wounding two people, the student news agency ISNA reported.

Married to the cause, Kurdish rebels leave love behind
03h57 - MOUNT QANDIL, Iraq, May 9, 2006 (AFP) - For this Kurdish teenager, joining a quasi-socialist rebel movement deep in the mountains on the Iraq-Iran frontier was a way to escape becoming a Muslim housewife in ultra-orthodox Iran.

Seven hurt by bombs in Iranian Kurd city
15h23 - TEHRAN, May 8, 2006 (AFP) - Two small bombs exploded in government offices in the western Iranian city of Kermanshah on Monday, wounding seven people, official media reported.

Two hurt by bombs in Iranian Kurd city
11h47 - TEHRAN, May 8, 2006 (AFP) - Two small bombs exploded in government offices in the western Iranian city of Kermanshah on Monday, wounding two people, the student news agency ISNA reported.

Minors on trial in Turkey over Kurdish riots
10h10 - DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, May 8, 2006 (AFP) - Twenty-three minors went on trial Monday in this mainly Kurdish city over deadly rioting that shook Turkey's restive southeastern region a month ago.

Iraq's Kurdish MPs vote to unify provincial government
14h36 - ARBIL, Iraq, May 7, 2006 (AFP) - Kurdish lawmakers on Sunday voted for a single administration to run their autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, ending the previous system of two separate local governments.

Erdogan calls on Kurds to condemn PKK violence
13h51 - DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, May 7, 2006 (AFP) - Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday called on the Kurds of in the southeast of the country to condemn violence committed by the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Iraqi Kurdish MPs vote to unify provincial government
10h22 - ARBIL, Iraq, May 7, 2006 (AFP) - Kurdish lawmakers in Iraq's northern Kurdistan on Sunday voted for a single administration to run their autonomous region, ending the previous system of two separate local governments.

Iraqi Kurdish MPs vote for single Iraqi Kurdistan government
09h57 - ARBIL, Iraq, May 7, 2006 (AFP) - Kurdish lawmakers in Iraq's northern Kurdistan on Sunday voted for a single administration to run their autonomous region, ending the previous system of two separate local governments.

EU deputy urges Turkey's Kurds to give up violence
17h16 - DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, May 6, 2006 (AFP) - A European Parliament delegate to Turkey urged separatist Kurds in the country to renounce violence, on a visit Saturday to the country's troubled southeastern region.

Kurdish rebels promise hit-and-run attacks on Iran
07h44 - MOUNT QANDIL, Iraq, May 6, 2006 (AFP) - A top Kurdish guerilla on Saturday threatened to launch hit-and-run attacks on Iran, saying the Shiite country planned to bomb his group's positions inside Iraq to gain Turkey's support against the US.

Court rejects Kurdish rebel leader's retrial
15h16 - ANKARA, May 5, 2006 (AFP) - A Turkish court on Friday rejected a petition by jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan to be retried, despite a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that his 1999 trial was unfair, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Bomb attack against Turkish freight train, no casualties
14h48 - ANKARA, May 5, 2006 (AFP) - A bomb exploded near a railway line in the mainly Kurdish east of Turkey as a freight train was passing by but there were no casualties, the state-run railway company said Friday.

Soldiers' bombing trial resumes in Turkey
14h01 - VAN, Turkey, May 5, 2006 (AFP) - A court here on Friday resumed hearing testimony from two military men and a government-paid Kurdish informer facing possible life sentences over a deadly bomb attack allegedly aimed at creating unrest in the mainly Kurdish southeast.

Iraqi Kurds warn guerrillas over Turkey, Iran conflict
07h47 - SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq, May 5, 2006 (AFP) - A top Iraqi Kurdish official on Friday warned rebels from the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) against waging a war on Turkey or Iran from Iraqi territory.

Iraqi Kurdistan warns guerillas against war with Turkey, Iran
05h22 - SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq, May 5, 2006 (AFP) - Authorities in northern Kurdistan warned rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) against waging war against Turkey or Iran from Iraqi territory.

Iraqi MPs want report on Iranian shelling of Kurdish rebels
10h42 - BAGHDAD, May 3, 2006 (AFP) - Iraq's parliament asked the defense and foreign ministries Wednesday to report on the alleged shelling by Iranian forces of Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq's Kurdistan.

US urges respect of Iraq sovereignty as Turkish troops mass
20h28 - WASHINGTON, May 2, 2006 (AFP) - The US government on Tuesday called on Iraq's neighbors to respect its territorial sovereignty as Turkey massed thousands of troops along its border with northern Iraq.

Turkish army claims right to pursue rebels in Iraq
13h32 - ANKARA, May 2, 2006 (AFP) - The Turkish army said Tuesday it reserves the right to venture into neighboring Iraq to pursue separatist Kurdish rebels based there, but denied reports that such operations were already under way.

Turkish soldier killed by landmine
11h46 - ANKARA, May 1, 2006 (AFP) - A Turkish soldier was killed Monday when he stepped on a landmine believed to have been planted by Kurdish rebels in the southeast of the country, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Families flee Iranian shelling of Kurdish rebels in Iraq
10h51 - SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq, May 1, 2006 (AFP) - Iranian forces shelled Kurdish rebel positions in Iraq for a second day Monday, forcing dozens of Kurdish families to flee attacks Teheran would neither confirm nor deny, an Iraqi Kurdish official said.

Families flee Iranian shelling on Kurdish rebels in Iraq
08h11 - SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq, May 1, 2006 (AFP) - Iranian forces shelled Kurdish rebel positions in Iraq for the second day on Monday, forcing dozens of Kurdish families to flee, a rebel leader said.

Iran tight-lipped over operations against Kurdish rebels
08h03 - TEHRAN, May 1, 2006 (AFP) - Iran was tight-lipped on Monday over military operations against Kurdish rebels based across the border in Iraq, refusing to confirm or deny its troops had crossed into Iraqi soil.