Saturday, September 30, 2006
Turkey's rejects PKK offer of ceasefire
Region, Kurdistan
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rejected a ceasefire call by Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, urging Kurdish separatists instead to abandon their fight against security forces. "A ceasefire is done between states. It is not something for the terrorist organisation," Erdogan said in an interview late Thursday with Samanyolu private television channel, referring to the Ocalan's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
"The terrorist organisation must lay down its arms. That is what we are waiting for to restore peace in the (Kurdish) region." Ocalan on Thursday appealed from his prison cell to the PKK to call a truce in its battle with the Turkish security forces. "I appeal to the PKK to call a ceasefire... (and) not use weapons unless it is attacked with the aim of being annihilated," he said.
The Turkish army, which has been battling the PKK in southeastern Turkey since 1984, has ignored such ceasefire announcements in the past. "Such a process ... is very important to build a democratic union between Turks and Kurds," Ocalan said in a statement relayed to AFP by his lawyers. "With this process, the way to democratic dialogue will also be opened," Ocalan said. He met with his lawyers in his cell on the prison island of Imrali, where he has been the sole inmate since his arrest in 1999. But despite serving a life sentence for separatism and treason, Ocalan is believed to retain significant influence over the PKK, which has been plagued by internal fighting since his arrest.
The rebel group, classed as a terror organisation by Turkey, the European Union and the United States, had called a truce immediately after Ocalan's arrest in Kenya in 1999, but took up arms again in June 2004 and has significantly increased its attacks since, notably this year. It was the longest lasting of four PKK ceasefires over the years, all of which were rejected by the army, which wants the rebels to lay down their arms and surrender or face being hunted down to the last militant.
"The terrorist organisation must lay down its arms. That is what we are waiting for to restore peace in the (Kurdish) region." Ocalan on Thursday appealed from his prison cell to the PKK to call a truce in its battle with the Turkish security forces. "I appeal to the PKK to call a ceasefire... (and) not use weapons unless it is attacked with the aim of being annihilated," he said.
The Turkish army, which has been battling the PKK in southeastern Turkey since 1984, has ignored such ceasefire announcements in the past. "Such a process ... is very important to build a democratic union between Turks and Kurds," Ocalan said in a statement relayed to AFP by his lawyers. "With this process, the way to democratic dialogue will also be opened," Ocalan said. He met with his lawyers in his cell on the prison island of Imrali, where he has been the sole inmate since his arrest in 1999. But despite serving a life sentence for separatism and treason, Ocalan is believed to retain significant influence over the PKK, which has been plagued by internal fighting since his arrest.
The rebel group, classed as a terror organisation by Turkey, the European Union and the United States, had called a truce immediately after Ocalan's arrest in Kenya in 1999, but took up arms again in June 2004 and has significantly increased its attacks since, notably this year. It was the longest lasting of four PKK ceasefires over the years, all of which were rejected by the army, which wants the rebels to lay down their arms and surrender or face being hunted down to the last militant.
