October
21, 2009
ANKARA, — The Turkish opposition on Wednesday
attacked the government, which is working to expand
Kurdish freedoms, over its allegedly lenient
treatment of a group of rebels which they said
amounted to a "de facto amnesty."
Eight militants of the outlawed Turkey's Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) on Monday left their camps in
the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan region,
crossed into
Turkey and turned themselves in to the authorities
in a show of support for government plans to end the
25-year Kurdish conflict.
They were released on Tuesday pending trial in an
unusually lenient move for a country where many end
up in jail for simply expressing sympathy for the
PKK, considered a "terrorist" group by Turkey.
The arrival of the rebels sparked ire among some,
with the government facing accusations of "treason."
The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP)
charged that letting the militants free amounted to
amnesty for the PKK, which took up arms in 1984,
sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000
lives.
"This is a political, de facto amnesty carried out
through the judiciary," deputy Isa Gok said.
An association of families of soldiers killed by the
PKK lashed out at the government for arranging "a
state ceremony to welcome the terrorists" and
slammed Ankara's plans to improve Kurdish rights.
"The politicians who prepared the ground for this
initiative are committing treason... The nation will
hold them accountable for that," chairman Hamit Kose
said.
The rebels were part of a 34-strong group, including
also Kurdish refugees who had lived in Iraq for
years, which jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan
suggested be sent as "peace envoys" to Turkey to
show support for government plans to broaden Kurdish
freedoms and end the conflict.
Overriding the criticism, Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan vowed Wednesday the government would
press ahead with plans to resolve the conflict,www.ekurd.netbut
did not say what reforms it planned.
Speaking in the eastern city of Siirt, he welcomed
the arrival of the rebels and voiced hope that "much
more will come," Anatolia news agency reported.
However Erdogan slammed the welcome staged for the
rebels by Kurdish activists at the border, calling
it "an irresponsible provocation."
"We will press ahead with this process... and
hopefully, we will complete it despite those
incitements and provocations," he said.
Ankara categorically rejects dialogue with the PKK,
but the group insisted Wednesday it should be part
of any settlement.
"We did what was up to us," PKK commander Murat
Karayilan told the Kurdish Firat news agency,
referring to the arrival of the "peace envoys."
"We will now see what the government will do," he
said. "First of all, (military) operations must stop
and then a dialogue must begin."
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 a '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.
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.
Copyright,
respective author or news agency, AFP | Agencies
Top |
®
