|
Kurdish PKK rebel 'peace groups' arrive in
Turkey in a gesture of support for Turkey's Kurdish
initiative
19.10.2009
By Ekurd.net staff writers
|
|
|
|
Kurdish PKK guerrillas (Freedom fighters) heading to
Turkey . The first images of the PKK members who
will cross into Turkey from northern Iraq have been
published in Turkish media on Monday. Photos: HPG. •
See Related Articles
Kurdish PKK guerrillas (Freedom fighters)
The PKK demanded Turkey's recognition of the Kurds'
identity in its constitution and of their language
as a native language along with Turkish in the
country's Kurdish areas, the party also demanded an
end to ethnic discrimination in Turkish laws and
constitution against Kurds, ranting them full
political freedoms.
Peace Kurdish Mother and Son
Kurdish PKK guerrillas (Freedom fighters) with
Jailed Kurdish PKK leader photo Abullah Ocalan
Kurdish PKK guerrillas
Kurdish PKK convoy leaving Iraqi Kurdistan. Kurd
militants surrender to Turkey to back Turkish
reforms
Turkish police and army waiting for the surrenders
Photo: Internet
Kurd
militants surrender to back Turkish reforms
October
19, 2009
DIYARBAKIR, The Kurdish
region of Turkey, — A group of Kurdish rebels and
their supporters
crossed from Iraqi Kurdistan region into Turkey
Monday in a gesture of support for a Turkish
government plan to end the 25-year Kurdish conflict,
officials said.
The 34 people, among them eight Turkey's Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) rebels, from the group's camp in
the Qandil mountains,www.ekurd.net
were
taken in for questioning as soon as they walked
through the Habur border gate, the only gate between
Turkey with Iraqi Kurdistan region.
The remaining 26, including four children and nine
women, are Turkish Kurds from the UN-run Makhmour
refugee camp in northern Iraq.
The camp holds some 12,000 people who left Turkey in
the 1990s at the peak of the deadly conflict between
the army and the PKK.
Four prosecutors sent to the border area by special
order were to determine whether these people had
committed any crimes and whether they should be
taken into custody.
Ahmet Turk, chairman of the Democratic Society Party
(DTP), Turkey's only legal Kurdish party, said the
move "shows that the PKK is insisting on peace not
war".
The DTP has long been suspected of links to the PKK,
branded a "terrorist" organisation by Turkey. The
DTP denies this, but has resisted calls to condemn
PKK violence.
Erdogan and the army have ruled out any role for the
PKK in the government initiative, but have said the
state will be generous with PKK militants who
surrender if they are found not to have been
involved in attacks.
The DTP wants the government to grant the PKK an
amnesty, but the government and military strongly
oppose this.
In Istanbul, several thousand pro-Kurdish protesters
took to the streets to back the government's plan,
which faces resistance from Turkish nationalists.
"I'm here because I want the killing of children to
stop. We need peace now," said Anka Turna, 48.
"I support the government's Kurdish initiative. This
will be a long process. It is like cancer treatment.
It will be painful and long, but a first step needs
to be taken."
Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party, which came to
power in 2002, has already taken some steps to
expand Kurdish rights.
Turkish officials have said the group was welcome if
they were in Turkey to turn themselves in, but
senior PKK commander Murat Karayilan told a
pro-Kurdish news agency on Sunday that the group's
aim was not surrender.
The banned PKK announced last week that it would
send "peace groups" from Iraq and Europe, on a
proposal from their jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan, to
help advance the government's bid to resolve the
conflict through democratic reforms. PKK surrender
to Turkish military forces on Monday
is a gesture of
support for Turkey's Kurdish initiative and to back
Turkish reforms, a PKK official said late on Saturday.
Since August, the government has been trying to
build public support for a initiative to grant Kurds
greater rights and try to erode support for the PKK.
Since 1984 the PKK took up arms
for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast of
Turkey (Turkey-Kurdistan) which has claimed around
45,000 lives of Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas. A large Turkey's Kurdish
community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK
rebels. Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish
population as a distinct minority.
The PKK demanded Turkey's recognition of the Kurds'
identity in its constitution and of their language
as a native language along with Turkish in the
country's Kurdish areas,www.ekurd.net
the party also demanded an end to ethnic
discrimination in Turkish laws and constitution
against Kurds, ranting them full political freedoms.
The PKK is considered as 'terrorist' organization by
Ankara, U.S., the PKK continues to be on the
blacklist list in EU despite court ruling which
overturned a decision
to place the Kurdish rebel group PKK and its
political wing on the European Union's terror list.
Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population
as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural
rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish
language and private Kurdish language courses with
the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish politicians
say the measures fall short of their expectations.
Ankara is currently working on a package of fresh
reforms to expand the freedoms of the Kurdish
community, but has rejected calls to halt military
action against the PKK.
Turkey's estimated over 20 million Kurds, of a population
of 72 million, have long complained of
discrimination by the state.
Ocalan, who was imprisoned in 1999, continues to
lead the PKK from his island cell off the Istanbul
coast, but has focused lately on support for
improved Kurdish rights in Turkey as a means to
ending the conflict.
Kurds are not recognized as an official minority in
Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
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" Southeast
Turkey.
Name of the Kurdish PKK
guerrillas (Qandil Group) which surrendered to Turkey in a gesture
of support for Turkey's Kurdish initiative
Nome Surname: HAMIYE DINCER
Sex : F
Father: FELEMEZ ASER
Mother: MAHIRE ASER
Date and Place of Birth: 1971 BASKALE
Nome Surname: ELIF ULUDAG
Sex : F
Father: HASAN
Mother: HATICE
Date and Place of Birth: 1958 PAZARCIK MARAS
Nome Surname: HUSEYIN IPEK
Sex : M
Father: HASAN
Mother: HALIME
Date and Place of Birth: 1973 OMERLI MARDIN
Nome Surname: M.SERIF BENCDAL
Sex : M
Father: MEHMET
Mother: SULTAN
Date and Place of Birth: 1973 SIVEREK
Nome Surname: MUSTAFA AYHAN
Sex : M
Father: OMER
Mother: SULTAN
Date and Place of Birth: 1985
Nome Surname: VILAYET YAKUT
Sex : F
Father: HUSNU
Mother: VESILE
Date and Place of Birth: 1980 DIYARBAKIR
Nome Surname: LUTFU TAS
Sex : M
Father: RIZA
Mother: PORE
Date and Place of Birth: 1952 KIGI BINGOL
Nome Surname: GULBAHAR CICEKCI
Sex : F
Father: MEHMET
Mother: SAADET
Date and Place of Birth: 1975 KIGI BINGOL
Sources: AFP | Reuters | Agencies
Copyright
© 2011 Ekurd.net. All rights reserved
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
®
