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Turkey: Jailed Kurdish rebel chief makes
ceasefire call
28.9.2006 |
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ANKARA, September
28, -- Jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan
on Thursday appealed to his Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK) to call a ceasefire in its separatist campaign
against the Turkish government.
"At the point we have come to, the bloodshed should
stop and peace should be given a chance," Ocalan
said in a statement relayed to AFP by his lawyers,
who met him in the island prison of Imrali.
"I appeal to the PKK to call a ceasefire," he said.
"I hope the PKK will heed this appeal and there will
be (positive) results."
Ocalan said the PKK should not use weapons unless it
is "attacked with the aim of annihilation," he said,
adding that the ceasefire would hopefully open the
path to a "democratic dialogue." |
Jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan |
Even though he has been in prison since 1999, Ocalan
retains significant influence over the PKK, which
has notably stepped up violence this year.
Other leaders of the group have also spoken about
the possibility of a ceasefire in recent weeks.
The government, however, usually plays down PKK
peace overtures.
Ankara has blacklisted the group as a terrorist
organization and the army has vowed to fight until
it is defeated for good.
The last PKK unilateral ceasefire, which lasted five
years until the group called it off in June 2004,
resulted in relative calm despite sporadic fighting.
The PKK took up arms for self-rule in Turkey's
predominantly Kurdish southeast in 1984. The
conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.
At least 110 PKK rebels and 78 members of the
security forces have been killed this year,
according to an AFP count.
Radical Kurdish militants have also claimed 17 bomb
attacks on civilian targets, including blasts at
tourist resorts, which claimed 12 lives and left
more than 200 people injured.
On Monday, an Iraqi spokesman said Iraqi President
Jalal Talabani had met with PKK leaders based in
northern Iraq and was expecting them to announce a
ceasefire soon.
Turkey has long urged Iraq and the United States to
crack down on the PKK in Kurdish-run northern Iraq.
Ankara charges that the region has become a training
ground for the PKK and a springboard for its attacks
across the border, and has threatened a cross-border
operation if Iraq and the United States fail to curb
the group.
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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