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ISTANBUL, Sept 19 (AFP) - 19h01 - The mayor of a
village in southeastern Turkey (North Kurdistan) was
abducted from his home by Kurdish rebels at the
weekend, the Anatolia news agency reported on
Monday.
Abdulkerim Kilic, mayor of Catalca Koyu in the
predominantly Kurdish Hakkari region, was kidnapped
late Saturday by members of the separatist Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK), Anatolia reported, citing a
local official.
Police launched a large-scale search for the missing
mayor after his wife raised the alarm, the official
said.
Violence has increased in the region since April.
An August 19 call by the Kurdish separatist group
Kongra-Gel, considered the political wing of the PKK,
for a unilateral one-month truce was brushed aside
by the Turkish military, which has never recognized
PKK truces.
The PKK broke a five-year truce in June 2004, and
the armed group has stepped up its activities in the
past few months.
The conflict with the Kurdish separatist rebels has
claimed some 37,000 lives since 1984, when PKK
militants first took up arms to fight for self-rule
in the country's southeast.
The PKK is considered a terrorist organisation by
Turkey, the European Union and the United States.
AFP
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