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ANKARA, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Turkey's parliament
will hold an extraordinary session next Monday to
debate terrorism, the assembly's speaker Bulent
Arinc said on Thursday.
The decision followed a request by the main
opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), which
has expressed concern about an upsurge in attacks by
Kurdish rebels on security forces and over
counter-demonstrations by Turkish nationalists.
"Parliament has been called to meet on Monday at
1500 (1300 GMT) to discuss the proposal by the CHP,"
Arinc said in a written statement.
Parliament formally reconvenes on Oct. 1 after its
summer recess, two days before Turkey begins
historic entry talks with the European Union.
Opposition leader Deniz Baykal said this week there
was an "increasingly intense atmosphere of violence"
in the country.
In several towns and cities in recent weeks, Turkish
nationalists have clashed with supporters of the
banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) demanding the
release of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan.
Ankara holds Ocalan responsible for the deaths of
more than 30,000 people killed since 1984 in a
conflict between Turkish forces and the PKK, which
wants to carve out a Kurdish ethnic homeland in
southeastern Turkey.
Some Turkish media have linked the upsurge in
violence to the imminent start of EU entry talks,
saying radicals on both sides are trying to
embarrass the government at a sensitive time.
The EU has long urged Turkey to tackle terrorism,
not only by military means but also by taking
measures to improve the economy of the poor
southeast region.
Reuters
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