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Kurdish rebel leader 'Ocalan' says he may
call for a ceasefire: report
11.8.2006
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ANKARA, August 11
(AFP) , -- Jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah
Ocalan has said he may call on his militants to
declare a ceasefire if Ankara displays "a sincere
approach" for the resolution of the ethnic conflict,
a pro-Kurdish news agency reported Friday.
"It is possible to stop the bloodshed... If the
government displays a sincere approach we will do
what is up to us. I will make a call for a ceasefire
and the clashes will stop," the Germany-based Firat
news agency quoted Ocalan as saying.
Ocalan's remarks were apparently relayed to Firat by
his lawyers, who, the agency said, recently met him
at the prison island of Imrali, where he has been
serving a life sentence for treason since 1999.
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Abdullah Ocalan, Kurdish Leader (PKK) Jailed in
Turkey, |
Clashes between the army and Ocalan's Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) in the mainly Kurdish southeast
have notably escalated this year after the rebels
called off a five-year unilateral ceasefire in June
2004.
Kurdish militants also claimed responsibility for 13
bomb attacks in urban centers across Turkey this
year, in which nine people were killed and more than
150 injured.
"A democratic dialogue is required for a permanent
solution," Ocalan said. "You cannot finish off the
PKK by pleading with the United States and
cooperating with Iran and Syria."
Turkey last month urged the United States and Iraq
to take action against PKK bases in neighboring
northern Iraq, which the rebels use as a jumping
board for attacks on Turkish territory, and
threatened a cross-border operation if they fail to
do so.
Iran and Syria have their own restive Kurdish
communities.
Ankara categorically rejects dialogue with the PKK,
which it lists as a terrorist group, along with the
European Union and the United States.
"Our demands are very clear... Our children should
be educated in their mother tongue, should listen to
radio, watch television and read newspapers" in
Kurdish, Ocalan said.
Keen to boost its bid to join the EU, Turkey has
allowed limited radio and television broadcasts in
Kurdish, but the education language in schools
remains Turkish, even though private courses
teaching the Kurdish language have also been
legalized. Several Kurdish-language newspapers are
published.
Ocalan said that if Ankara takes "some practical
steps and gives certain guarantees" following an
eventual PKK ceasefire the rebels would retreat to
Iraq or another country.
"At the final stage, the arms would be laid down for
good, provided a legal guarantee is given," he said,
in an apparent reference for an amnesty for PKK
members.
The Kurdish conflict in Turkey has claimed more than
37,000 lives since the PKK took up arms for Kurdish
self-rule in the southeast.
AFP
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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