Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Talabani - PKK announce ceasefire
Politics
Iraq's President has said he has convinced the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to announce a ceasefire in its fight against Turkey. In an interview with the magazine Newsweek, which appeared Monday, President Jalal Talabani the PKK will declare a ceasefire within days.
Talabani said that the cease fire would open a new chapter in his country's relations with Turkey, which has repeatedly called on Baghdad to act against the PKK and its bases in the north of Iraq. The Iraqi givernment issued a statement banning PKK last Tuesday.
Talabani said that the cease fire would open a new chapter in his country's relations with Turkey, which has repeatedly called on Baghdad to act against the PKK and its bases in the north of Iraq. The Iraqi givernment issued a statement banning PKK last Tuesday.
COMMENT: The PKK, also known as KADEK and Kongra-Gel, is an armed militant group, whose stated aim is to create an independent Kurdish state in a territory (sometimes referred to as Kurdistan) that consists of parts of south-eastern Turkey, north-eastern Iraq, north-eastern Syria and north-western Iran. Its ideological foundation is revolutionary Marxism-Leninism and Kurdish Nationalism. It is an ethnic secessionist organisation that uses force and the threat of force against both civilian and military targets for the purpose of achieving its political goal. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organisation internationally by several states and organisations, including the USA and the EU. In August, the U.S. State Dept. announced the appointment of Retired U.S. Air Force General Joseph W. Ralston, a former NATO supreme allied commander, as U.S. special envoy for countering the PKK. COMMENT ENDS.
