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Article: Turkey's Kurds flee to cities to escape poverty, fighting. (Kurds are 20% of the nation's population; Kurdish Workers Party - PKK - is banned)
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- July 26, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 National Catholic Reporter. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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ISTANBUL, Turkey-Imam Irmak sells carpets in Istanbul's Grand Bazaar sprawling complex of shops whose origins date back to the 1400s At the age of 7, Irmak ran away from home in south eastern Turkey to come to Istanbul on the country's far-western border.
"I came alone to find a good life," he says simply.
Irmak's family were Kurds living in one of Turkey's poorest and most neglected regions, an area that is home to approximately 6 million Kurds.
He found work selling water in a bazaar. Later, he worked in a restaurant and then as a singer. He learned Turkish and began attending school. When he was 11, he telephoned home to his village to let his ...