Kurdish politicians boycott Turkish PM's speech to protest policies
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Kurdish politicians boycotted a major speech by Turkey's prime minister on Tuesday to protest what they say is the government's refusal to recognize the country's Kurdish minority.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the Kurdish-dominated southeast, to give details of plans he first unveiled in March for economic and cultural initiatives for the region.
He suggested spending some US$14.5 billion over five years to improve the arid region's agriculture, with most of the money earmarked for building hydroelectric dams and irrigation projects as well as clearing land mines along the border with Syria.