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July
31, 2009
ANKARA, — Turkey's Democratic Society Party
(DTP) called on the government on Wednesday to stop
military operations against the outlawed Turkey's
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to prove its "Kurdish
move" sincere, the semi-official Anatolia news
agency reported.
DTP leader Ahmet Turk
made the appeal after a meeting with Turkey's top
business organization TUSIAD on the Kurdish issue,www.ekurd.net
saying that they would
not trust the government unless all military
operations against PKK are halted.
"Our wish is also peace and a democratic solution.
While putting forth this democratic solution,
democratic and cultural rights of the 20 million
Kurds living in Turkey should not be ignored," said
Turk.
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Pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) Chairman Ahmet Türk |
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Earlier in the day,
Turkish Interior Minister Besir Atalay said the
government is to introduce a package plan aimed at
boosting the democratic rights of its Kurdish
community to solve the over-two-decade Kurdish
issue.
"We believe the Kurdish problem can be solved by
improving and enhancing the democratic rights of our
citizens and ensuring that all see themselves as
free and equal citizens ... The solution lies in
democracy," Atalay told a press conference.
Atalay said the government has yet to finalize the
package plan, which would contain short, medium and
long-term measures, but he declined to give details.
About the Turkish government's "Kurdish move," the
DTP head said the government should make haste and
not create a sense of frustration in the public.
The DTP, which won the majority of the
municipalities in the local elections of March in
the eastern and southeastern provinces of Turkey
where Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin are mostly
concentrated, refuses to regard PKK as a terrorist
organization.
Lawmakers and mayors from the DTP which holds 21
seats in the parliament have faced charges due to
their pro-PKK speeches.
Some 44,000 Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas have been killed since 1984 when the
Turkey's Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) took up arms
for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast of
Turkey (Turkey-Kurdistan). 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,www.ekurd.net
but Kurdish politicians
say the measures fall short of their expectations.
The conflict has displaced thousands and led to
allegations of gross human rights violations by both
sides.
Turkey's military forces have taken tougher actions
against the PKK after the country's legislature gave
the government mandate to launch cross-border
operations against the rebels in northern Iraq in
October 2007 and extended it in 2008.
It is estimated that there are a total of 5,000 PKK
militants, the majority of whom are holed up in
northern Iraq where the PKK headquarters is
situated.
Copyright, respective
author or news agency,
Xinhuanet com
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