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Turkey: Erdogan calls on Kurds to condemn
PKK violence
8.5.2006
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DIYARBAKIR,
Kurdistan-Turkey, May 7, 2006 (AFP) - Turkey's Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday called on
the Kurds of in the southeast of the country to
condemn violence committed by the separatist
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
"By uniting, we will close the door on terrorism and
we will work as hard as we can to ensure that this
country grows a little freer, more democratic,
richer and happier every day," said Erdogan during a
local conference held by his Justice and Development
Party (AKP) in Diyarbakir, the region's capital.
The prime minister stressed the distinction between
democratic protests, supported by the government,
and violent acts, which the authorities would
continue to punish.
"We in the government will respond robustly to
terrorism but also determinedly pursue our efforts
towards democracy and development," he told the
gathered supporters in a heavily guarded stadium in
Diyarbakir.
Erdogan cited the 21 new factories he was due to
open over the course of the day as evidence of his
commitment to the development of the region, one of
Turkey's poorest.
Erdogan's comments came as the armed separatist PKK,
which Turkey, the European Union and the United
States consider to be a terrorist organisation,
increased its operations against the security forces
in the region.
In addition, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a
group the authorities link to the PKK, has claimed
responsibility for several bomb attacks on towns in
the west of the country since the beginning of the
year.
Riots erupted in Diyarbakir in late March after
youths demanding vengeance attacked the police
following the funerals of PKK rebels killed in
fighting with Turkish armed forces.
A total of 16 people, including three small boys,
were killed when security forces opened fire and
used tear gas to disperse crowds.
Three women were also crushed to death in Istanbul
when Kurdish rioters set a city bus ablaze with a
petrol bomb.
The Kurdish conflict has killed more than 37,000
people since the start of the PKK uprising in 1984.
AFP
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