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Kurdish PKK rebels end cease-fire in
Turkey
28.2.2011 |
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February 28, 2011
QANDIL MOUNTAINS, Turkey-Iraqi Kurdistan
frontier, — The outlawed Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) has called off a unilateral cease-fire
with Turkey, according to a statement published on
Monday by the pro-Kurdish Firat news agency.
The PKK had announced a cease-fire on August 13,
before the start of the Islamic holy month of
Ramadan, and extended it in November.
It was the latest of several cease-fires that the
group had announced and honoured for various length
of time since 2005.
The Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), a group
considered to be the urban branch of the PKK, said
in a statement that the PKK was abandoning the
cease-fire because of the failure of the ruling
Justice and Development Party (AKP) to deal with
Kurdish issues. |
Kurdish PKK rebels end cease-fire in Turkey |
But KCK said the
guerrillas will now attack the Turkish army but will
stay in a self-defense position. “Our guerrilla
units will follow an active-defense strategy” the
statement read.
Active-defence means -as previously defined by the
PKK- that Kurdish guerrillas may target the military
if there is a preparation of an attack and can make
retaliatory attacks.
KCK listed the reasons which led it to end the
unilateral ceasefire as follows:
1- The operations against the Kurdish guerrillas and
politicians continued but the number of the
operations were lower than usual due to the season.
2- The demand of Kurdish politicians to defend
themselves in their mother language was not
recognized by the Turkish courts. Their right to
defend themselves were denied, no one was released
and the trial became a political trial.
3- The prison conditions of our leader Abdullah
Ocalan was not improved. The dialogue between him
and the state did now reach to a level of
negotiations.
4- Although there are excavations of mass graves no
Truth Commission was formed.
5- Turkish government did not lower the election
threshold.
KCK called all the democratic political powers to
show united stance against the Turkish government.
In 2009 the AKP launched an initiative called the
"Kurdish opening," aimed at addressing the problems
faced by Turkey's Kurdish minority,www.ekurd.netbut
the initiative stalled politically and produced few
concrete results.
Turkey is gearing up for general elections in June.
If the end of the cease-fire sparks an increase in
violence, it could potentially sway public opinion
and affect the outcome of the elections.
The statement said the organization would "defend
itself more effectively against attacks but not
attack."
Although the group initially sought to establish an
independent Kurdish state, it now says it is
fighting for increased political and cultural rights
for Kurds in Turkey.
During the six months prior to the August
cease-fire, clashes between the group and the
Turkish army, as well as bombing raids on PKK camps
by Turkey's air force, led to the deaths of dozens
of soldiers and militants.
Since it was established in 1984, the PKK has been fighting the Turkish state,
which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, to establish a Kurdish
state in the south east of the country.
But now its aim is the creation an autonomous region and more cultural rights
for ethnic Kurds who constitute the greatest minority in Turkey, numbering more
than 20 million.
PKK's demands included releasing PKK detainees, lifting the ban on education in
Kurdish, paving the way for an autonomous democrat Kurdish system within Turkey,
reducing pressure on the detained PKK president, stopping military action
against the Kurdish party and recomposing the Turkish constitution.
PKK demanded to stop military and political operations and to release
Kurdish politicians who are unjustly detained. The organization also requested
to enable imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan's active participation in the
process.
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.
Copyright ©, respective
author or news agency,
DPA | firatnews.com |
ekurd.net | AFP | Agencies
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