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Jalal Talabani expects Turkish Kurd rebels
to call ceasefire 25.9.2006
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ANKARA, September
25, -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has met with
Turkish Kurd rebels based in Kurdistan (northern
Iraq) and is expecting them to soon announce a
ceasefire in their armed campaign in Turkey, an aide
told Turkish television Monday.
Talabani, a Kurd, met with leaders of the separatist
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and "said a ceasefire
declaration may be possible in a short time,"
Talabani's spokesman, Kamran Qaradaghi, told the NTV
news channel.
The spokesman was commenting on remarks by Talabani
in an interview with the US magazine Newsweek.
"We convinced the PKK to stop fighting, and within
days it will officially announce a ceasefire," he
said, according to Newsweek's web site.
"This will help Iraq open a new chapter in relations
with Turkey," Talabani added. "We are urging the
Turkish Kurds to be moderate, to wage their struggle
through democratic means." |
Iraqi President : Jalal Talabani |
PKK leaders, including Ocalan, have also spoken
about the possibility of a ceasefire in recent
weeks.
Turkey has long urged Iraq and the United States to
crack down on the PKK in northern Iraq, a
Kurdish-run region where thousands militants found
save haven after the group declared a unilateral
ceasefire in 1999 following the capture of their
leader Abdullah Ocalan.
The truce was called off in June 2004 and the PKK,
blacklisted as a terrorist group by Turkey, the
European Union and the United States, has notably
stepped up attacks on Turkish territory this year.
Ankara has threatened a cross-border operation into
northern Iraq to pursue the PKK if Baghdad and
Washington fail to curb the rebels.
The Turkish government charges that northern Iraq
has become a training ground for the PKK and a
springboard for its attacks across the border.
It says that PKK rebels enjoy unrestricted movement
in the region and are easily able to obtain weapons
and explosives there.
Last week, Iraq announced that it would close down
all PKK offices in the country.
Ankara is also urging Baghdad to declare the PKK a
terrorist organization and arrest its leaders.
The Kurdish conflict in Turkey has claimed more than
37,000 lives since 1984 when the PKK took up arms
for self-rule in the country's predominantly Kurdish
southeast.
AFP
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan".
Others estimate as many as 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan but
unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag is
banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it is
a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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