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Kurdish PKK protests Ocalan prison
conditions
3.12.2009 |
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December 3, 2009
ANKARA, — Members of the Turkey Kurdistan
Workers' Party PKK demonstrated in mainly Kurdish
southern Turkey in protest of the prison conditions
for their leader, Abdullah Ocalan.
Ocalan is imprisoned at a detention facility on
Imrali Island in the south of the Sea of Marmara.
His living arrangements changed as justice officials
developed plans to transfer more prisoners to the
Imrali facility following the conclusion that Ocalan
was suffering mentally from his solitary
confinement.
Ocalan was held in isolation since his 1999 capture.
His lawyers are now protesting the fact that his new
cell is half the size of his old cell and he
complains the quarters are harming his health,www.ekurd.netTurkey's
leading English-language daily Today's Zaman
reports.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in a written
statement complained his cell was a "death hole"
restricted in a way meant to kill the leader, the
report added.
"The attitude displayed towards him is reason enough
for war or peace," the statement read. "We are now
at the end of words. From now on, we are not
responsible for possible developments."
The conditions for Ocalan sparked protests in
southern Turkey as PKK supporters took to the
streets chanting pro-Kurdish slogans and vowing
"revenge" against national security forces.
The unrest comes as Ankara struggles to find a
political solution to its longstanding dispute with
the Kurdish minority and separatist rebels.
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 Kurdish question cannot be resolved without
recognizing the will of the Kurdish people and
holding dialogue with its interlocutors," the group
said.
The PKK has long called on Ankara to halt military
operations and agree to negotiations for a solution,
which it says should include official recognition of
the country's Kurds in the constitution.
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 government categorically rejects dialogue with a
group it labels a terrorist organization and says it
will not let up on the military campaign against the
rebels. 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.
The European Union, which Turkey wants to join, has
praised Erdogan's efforts to end the conflict. His
so-called democratic initiative aims to expand
cultural and political liberties to address decades
of grievances from Kurds who say they have faced
state-sanctioned discrimination and violence.
It has gone from seeking full independence for the
Kurdish region to calling for regional autonomy and
better cultural rights for Kurds.
Ankara has recently announced measures aimed at
improving Kurdish rights in the hope of undermining
support for the party.
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