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KURDISH MILITANTS SET FOR TURKEY CEASEFIRE IN FEBRUARY: PAPER
By Daren Butler | Reuters
View Photo
Reuters/Reuters - Demonstrators hold flags with portraits of jailed
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan during a protest
in Strasbourg February 18, 2012. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Kurdish militants will halt hostilities with
Turkey in February according to the timetable of a fledgling peace
process aimed at ending 28 years of insurgency, a report in a
mainstream newspaper said on Tuesday.
Turkish intelligence officials began talks with jailed Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan in late 2012 and
preliminary talks have also been held with PKK members in northern
Iraq, where most of the group's several thousand militants are based,
it said.
More than 40,000 people have been killed in fighting since the rebels
took up arms in 1984 with the aim of carving out a Kurdish state in
southeastern Turkey. The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Ankara,
the United States and the European Union, has since moderated its goal
to one of autonomy.
The conflict is the chief domestic problem facing Prime Minister
Tayyip Erdogan after 10 years in power.
"According to the timetable on the table, the PKK will announce its
decision to halt hostilities in February right after an official call
by Abdullah Ocalan," the paper said.
As an initial confidence-building step, around 100 PKK fighters will
hand in their weapons and leave Turkey, the Hurriyet daily said.
Hurriyet, which is regarded as authoritative on security-related
matters, did not identify its sources and there was no immediate
comment from Turkish officials.
When asked about the report, PKK spokesman Roj Welat said the group
had not as yet declared any ceasefire.
"The PKK officially has made no such declaration for the moment,"
Welat told Reuters by telephone. "There is no such information in our
hands."
The militants have announced unilateral ceasefires in the past, but
these have been ignored by Turkish security forces.
Under a framework discussed with Ocalan, all PKK fighters will
eventually disarm after the withdrawal from Turkey and in return the
government will improve the rights of Kurds, who make up some 20
percent of Turkey's population of 76 million.
As part of those reforms, Turkey's parliament last week passed a law
allowing defendants to use Kurdish in court in a move seen aimed at
breaking a deadlock in the trials of hundreds accused of links to the
PKK. [ID:nL6N0AU2VN]
NORTHERN IRAQ TALKS PLANNED
Only Erdogan and a few officials are believed to have first-hand
knowledge of the peace framework. They have not disclosed details of
the plan, nor have they denied reports on it by media close to the
government.
With next year's local and presidential elections in mind, Erdogan has
limited time and is keen to keep the process under wraps due to fears
of a nationalist backlash against talks with a group reviled by most
Turks.
A more senior delegation from the MIT national intelligence agency,
possibly including its head - Hakan Fidan, was due to travel to Arbil
in northern Iraq for more talks with the PKK in the coming week, the
liberal Radikal daily reported.
Among those expected to take part in the meeting was Sabri Ok, a
senior figure in the PKK who participated in previous peace talks with
Fidan in Oslo. Those negotiations unraveled in 2011 when recordings of
them were leaked to the media.
The planned withdrawal of PKK fighters from Turkish territory is
expected to be monitored by representatives of non-governmental
organizations.
The militants previously withdrew from Turkish territory on Ocalan's
orders after his capture in 1999, as part of moves towards peace.
However, several hundred militants are estimated to have been killed
by security forces during that withdrawal.
In an apparent bid to ease PKK concerns, Erdogan gave his word this
month that the same thing would not happen again.
(Additional reporting by Patrick Markey in Baghdad; Editing by Louise
Ireland and Jonathon Burch)
http://news.yahoo.com/pkk-guerrillas-made-no-official-ceasefire-declaration-spokesman-141709109.html
By Daren Butler | Reuters
View Photo
Reuters/Reuters - Demonstrators hold flags with portraits of jailed
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan during a protest
in Strasbourg February 18, 2012. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Kurdish militants will halt hostilities with
Turkey in February according to the timetable of a fledgling peace
process aimed at ending 28 years of insurgency, a report in a
mainstream newspaper said on Tuesday.
Turkish intelligence officials began talks with jailed Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan in late 2012 and
preliminary talks have also been held with PKK members in northern
Iraq, where most of the group's several thousand militants are based,
it said.
More than 40,000 people have been killed in fighting since the rebels
took up arms in 1984 with the aim of carving out a Kurdish state in
southeastern Turkey. The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Ankara,
the United States and the European Union, has since moderated its goal
to one of autonomy.
The conflict is the chief domestic problem facing Prime Minister
Tayyip Erdogan after 10 years in power.
"According to the timetable on the table, the PKK will announce its
decision to halt hostilities in February right after an official call
by Abdullah Ocalan," the paper said.
As an initial confidence-building step, around 100 PKK fighters will
hand in their weapons and leave Turkey, the Hurriyet daily said.
Hurriyet, which is regarded as authoritative on security-related
matters, did not identify its sources and there was no immediate
comment from Turkish officials.
When asked about the report, PKK spokesman Roj Welat said the group
had not as yet declared any ceasefire.
"The PKK officially has made no such declaration for the moment,"
Welat told Reuters by telephone. "There is no such information in our
hands."
The militants have announced unilateral ceasefires in the past, but
these have been ignored by Turkish security forces.
Under a framework discussed with Ocalan, all PKK fighters will
eventually disarm after the withdrawal from Turkey and in return the
government will improve the rights of Kurds, who make up some 20
percent of Turkey's population of 76 million.
As part of those reforms, Turkey's parliament last week passed a law
allowing defendants to use Kurdish in court in a move seen aimed at
breaking a deadlock in the trials of hundreds accused of links to the
PKK. [ID:nL6N0AU2VN]
NORTHERN IRAQ TALKS PLANNED
Only Erdogan and a few officials are believed to have first-hand
knowledge of the peace framework. They have not disclosed details of
the plan, nor have they denied reports on it by media close to the
government.
With next year's local and presidential elections in mind, Erdogan has
limited time and is keen to keep the process under wraps due to fears
of a nationalist backlash against talks with a group reviled by most
Turks.
A more senior delegation from the MIT national intelligence agency,
possibly including its head - Hakan Fidan, was due to travel to Arbil
in northern Iraq for more talks with the PKK in the coming week, the
liberal Radikal daily reported.
Among those expected to take part in the meeting was Sabri Ok, a
senior figure in the PKK who participated in previous peace talks with
Fidan in Oslo. Those negotiations unraveled in 2011 when recordings of
them were leaked to the media.
The planned withdrawal of PKK fighters from Turkish territory is
expected to be monitored by representatives of non-governmental
organizations.
The militants previously withdrew from Turkish territory on Ocalan's
orders after his capture in 1999, as part of moves towards peace.
However, several hundred militants are estimated to have been killed
by security forces during that withdrawal.
In an apparent bid to ease PKK concerns, Erdogan gave his word this
month that the same thing would not happen again.
(Additional reporting by Patrick Markey in Baghdad; Editing by Louise
Ireland and Jonathon Burch)
http://news.yahoo.com/pkk-guerrillas-made-no-official-ceasefire-declaration-spokesman-141709109.html