Turkey, Italy to end Kurd refugee influx<\/p>\n
ANKARA (AFP): Turkey said yesterday that it would cooperate
\nwith Italy to put an end to the influx of Kurdish immigrants
\narriving illegally in Italian ports.<\/p>\n
\"We are aware of the scale of the problem and are ready to
\ncooperate fully with Italian authorities,\" Necati Utkan,
\nspokesman for the Turkish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, said.<\/p>\n
His comments came shortly after Italian police announced
\nSaturday that a fresh group of 835 Turks or Iraqi Kurds had
\nlanded illegally on southern Italian shores from a grounded
\nTurkish vessel, the Ararat.<\/p>\n
This latest wave of arrivals prompted Germany's Social
\nDemocrat Party (SPD) yesterday to urge Italy to \"secure its
\nfrontiers\".<\/p>\n
SPD foreign affairs spokesman Karsten Voigt told the German
\npress that Kurds who were allowed to stay in Italy after entering
\nillegally \"should not be allowed to disappear two weeks later
\nonly to turn up in Germany or the Netherlands.\"<\/p>\n
Currently, Italian regulations give identified immigrants a
\ngrace period of two weeks to leave Italy, but the time is often
\nemployed by the illegals to disappear underground, subsequently
\nresurfacing in other European countries.<\/p>\n
Close to 3,000 illegal Kurdish immigrants have breached
\nItalian coastlines since the start of 1997.<\/p>\n
Debate on a law to tighten the process is to resume in the
\nItalian parliament next month.<\/p>\n
Utkan said the waves of immigration were the result of
\n\"organized crime,\" adding that \"our approach to the problem is
\nserious\".<\/p>\n
He urged all sides to \"square up to their responsibilities so
\nas to help improve the situation\".<\/p>\n
But Utkan said the waves of Kurdish refugees were a problem
\n\"not just limited to countries in the region -- all the countries
\nconcerned should fulfill their obligations in this sphere, as
\nmuch as Turkey\".<\/p>\n
The Turkish spokesman declined to comment on an appeal made
\nSaturday by Italian Interior Minister Giorgio Napolitano for
\nTurkey to \"work seriously\" to stop illegal immigration of Kurds
\nfrom Turkey into Europe.<\/p>\n
The world should \"recognize the rights of the Kurdish people,\"
\nsaid Napolitano.<\/p>\n
Separatists have been fighting to establish their own homeland
\nin southern Turkey for more than 13 years with more than 27,000
\npeople killed in the conflict.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/turkey-italy-to-end-kurd-refugee-influx-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}