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BRUSSELS, Aug 19 (AFP) - 12h24 - The political
wing of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
called in a statement Friday for a one-month
unilateral ceasefire with Ankara until September 20.
KONGRA-GEL, which claims to be the political arm of
the PKK, said in the statement that the truce was
being called in order to open the way for
negotiations.
The Turkish authorities, which consider the PKK a
terrorist organization, declined to comment on the
announcement.
The PKK, also blacklisted as a terrorist group by
the United States and the European Union, has
stepped up violence in the past few months after it
called off a truce in June 2004 on the grounds that
Ankara's steps to expand Kurdish freedoms were
insufficient.
The PKK had said it would consider a new ceasefire
if the Turkish army also stops military operations
against the rebels.
About 37,000 people died between 1984 and 1999 as
the PKK led a violent armed campaign for Kurdish
autonomy in Turkey's southeast.
The KONGRA-GEL announcement comes after Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a landmark
pledge last week to resolve the Kurdish conflict
with "more democracy".
The announcement of the truce was originally to be
made at a press conference by Kurdish rebel leader
and KONGRA-GEL head Zubayir Aydar but the briefing
was cancelled at the last moment because of "Turkish
pressure on Belgian authorities", a source close to
the Kurdish group said.
A senior Turkish diplomat told AFP on Thursday that
Ankara had asked Belgium to arrest Aydar, who has
enjoyed political refugee status in Switzerland
since 1994, another Kurdish source said.
AFP
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