Turkey cautiously welcomes Kurdish rebels' call for truce
Source: Agencies |
March 22, 2013, Friday
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TURKISH Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has welcomed the Kurdish rebel leader's call for a cease-fire and for thousands of his fighters to leave Turkey.
Erdogan yesterday also sounded a note of caution, however, saying Turkey wanted to see "to what extent it is implemented" by the rebels. Erdogan was speaking at a joint news conference with his Dutch counterpart in Amsterdam.
Erdogan said Turkish security forces would cease operations against the rebels as soon as imprisoned rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan's call is implemented.
The jailed Kurdish rebel leader called yesterday for an immediate cease-fire and for thousands of his fighters to withdraw from Turkish territory, a major step toward ending one of the world's bloodiest insurgencies.
Hundreds of thousands were gathered to hear the message in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, where Ocalan's rebel group has been waging a 30-year battle against the Turkish government for autonomy and greater rights. Though there was a cautious response from the Turkish government, the announcement at a Kurdish spring festival was met with joy from the crowd. People sang and danced, waved rebel flags and banners with images of Ocalan and cheered at the prospect of an end to a conflict that has cost tens of thousands of lives.
Peace talks
Turkey announced in December that it was talking to Ocalan to persuade his Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, to disarm. The group is considered a terror organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
In his message, Ocalan said: "We have reached the point where the guns must be silenced and where ideas must speak. A new era has started, where it is politics, not guns, which is at the forefront."
"We have reached the stage where our armed elements need to retreat beyond the border," Ocalan's message continued.
Despite his 14-year incarceration in a prison island off Istanbul, Ocalan still wields power over his rebel group. PKK commanders based in northern Iraq have declared support for the peace initiative and the fighters were expected to heed Ocalan's call.
Nevertheless, Turkey's Interior Minister Muammer Guler sounded a note of caution.
"The language was one of peace (but) we must see how it is implemented," the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Guler as saying.
Kurdish rebels have declared cease-fires in the past but these were ignored by the state. Erdogan's government has also admitted to having held failed, secret talks with the PKK in past years, but this latest attempt has raised hopes.
Erdogan yesterday also sounded a note of caution, however, saying Turkey wanted to see "to what extent it is implemented" by the rebels. Erdogan was speaking at a joint news conference with his Dutch counterpart in Amsterdam.
Erdogan said Turkish security forces would cease operations against the rebels as soon as imprisoned rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan's call is implemented.
The jailed Kurdish rebel leader called yesterday for an immediate cease-fire and for thousands of his fighters to withdraw from Turkish territory, a major step toward ending one of the world's bloodiest insurgencies.
Hundreds of thousands were gathered to hear the message in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, where Ocalan's rebel group has been waging a 30-year battle against the Turkish government for autonomy and greater rights. Though there was a cautious response from the Turkish government, the announcement at a Kurdish spring festival was met with joy from the crowd. People sang and danced, waved rebel flags and banners with images of Ocalan and cheered at the prospect of an end to a conflict that has cost tens of thousands of lives.
Peace talks
Turkey announced in December that it was talking to Ocalan to persuade his Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, to disarm. The group is considered a terror organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
In his message, Ocalan said: "We have reached the point where the guns must be silenced and where ideas must speak. A new era has started, where it is politics, not guns, which is at the forefront."
"We have reached the stage where our armed elements need to retreat beyond the border," Ocalan's message continued.
Despite his 14-year incarceration in a prison island off Istanbul, Ocalan still wields power over his rebel group. PKK commanders based in northern Iraq have declared support for the peace initiative and the fighters were expected to heed Ocalan's call.
Nevertheless, Turkey's Interior Minister Muammer Guler sounded a note of caution.
"The language was one of peace (but) we must see how it is implemented," the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Guler as saying.
Kurdish rebels have declared cease-fires in the past but these were ignored by the state. Erdogan's government has also admitted to having held failed, secret talks with the PKK in past years, but this latest attempt has raised hopes.
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