Home Tags Posts tagged with "pkk"
pkk
Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Turkey, has renewed a call for his fighters to end their armed struggle in the country.
In a message read out at a huge rally marking the Kurdish New Year, Abdullah Ocalan called for a congress to decide on abandoning the insurgency.
PKK has been waging a 30-year armed struggle for Kurdish independence.
Abdullah Ocalan called a ceasefire in 2013 and there are growing hopes of a long-term deal.
More than 40,000 people, mostly Kurds, have died in fighting for a Kurdish homeland in Turkey’s south-east.
Abdullah Ocalan has been in prison since 1999, serving a life sentence for treason.
His message was delivered instead by Sirri Sureyya Onder, a pro-Kurdish politician who visited Abdullah Ocalan in jail on March 19.
Hundreds of thousands attended the celebration in Diyarbakir, the largest Kurdish-populated city in eastern Turkey, with many carrying images of the imprisoned leader.
A ceasefire announced by Abdullah Ocalan in 2013 still holds despite ongoing mistrust between the two sides.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan angered some Kurds by saying the country “never had a Kurdish problem”.
Turkey is facing parliamentary elections later this year, with analysts suggesting Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments were an attempt to shore-up nationalist support.
[youtube cuMSHvgczf8 650]
Kurdish rebels’ leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is now jailed in Turkey, has called for a truce after 30 years of war.
Abdullah Ocalan also urged his fighters to withdraw from Turkey, in a message read out to cheers during Kurdish New Year celebrations in the city of Diyarbakir.
The Turkish government cautiously welcomed the call, which follows months of talks between the PKK and Turkey.
More than 40,000 people have died in the 30-year fight for an ethnic Kurdish homeland in Turkey’s south-east.
Hundreds of thousands of people were present in Diyarbarkir to hear Abdullah Ocalan’s message.
“The language spoken is that of peace. We should see the implementation,” Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler told the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Several previous ceasefire attempts between the two sides have failed.
However, the announcement is potentially an important step towards ending the 30-year long conflict between Kurdish rebels and the Turkish state.
This time, Abdullah Ocalan and Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan – the two key figures involved – are talking via intermediaries. But the real test of the announcement will be in its implementation.
Abdullah Ocalan is still the final decision-maker among the Kurds, despite the 14 years he has spent in jail. He is serving a life sentence for treason.
PKK chief Abdullah Ocalan calls for ceasefire after 30 years of war with Turkey
The announcement was read out in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir in Kurdish and in Turkish.
“We have reached the point where weapons should be silent and ideas and politics should speak. A new phase in our struggle is beginning,” Abdullah Ocalan’s message said.
“Now a door is opening to a phase where we are moving from armed resistance to an era of democratic political struggle.
“Now it is time for our armed units to move across the border [to northern Iraq]. This is not an end but a new beginning. This is not abandoning the struggle, but a start to a different struggle.”
It is not immediately clear when this withdrawal will take place – or whether the PKK will ultimately choose to disarm.
Abdullah Ocalan had told Kurdish politicians who visited him earlier this week at his prison on the island of Imrali that his declaration would be “historic”.
In February the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) leader, who has been in Turkish custody since his capture in Kenya in 1999, called for prisoners to be released by both sides.
The PKK freed eight Turkish soldiers and officials it had held captive in northern Iraq for up to two years.
The PKK launched its armed campaign in 1984 and is regarded by Turkey, the US and EU as a terrorist organization. Last year saw some of the heaviest fighting in decades.
The organization rolled back on its demands for an independent Kurdish state in the 1990s, calling instead for more autonomy.
Reports say the PKK wish list now includes greater constitutional and linguistic rights for Kurds, as well as an easing of pressure on Kurdish activists.
The government has also not dismissed speculation that Abdullah Ocalan could be moved to house arrest.
On the eve of the truce call, Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned a number of blasts in the capital blamed on a left-wing group which opposes the talks with the PKK. He promised to push ahead with “extremely critical and sensitive” peace efforts, which have been going on since October.
Abdullah Demirbas, a district mayor in Diyarbakir, told Reuters news agency there would be more attempts to sabotage talks, but this was a last chance for peace.
“The PKK, Ocalan and the government must be brave… There is massive social support for this process.”
[youtube OP94F5epOnE]
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on French President Francois Hollande to explain why he previously met one of the Kurdish activists shot dead in Paris on Thursday.
One of the three women killed was Sakine Cansiz – a co-founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – a group proscribed by the European Union.
President Francois Hollande has said that he and other politicians had regularly met one of the women, without saying which one.
Turkey has fought the PKK for 25 years.
Some 40,000 people have died, but the Paris shootings came as Ankara sought peace talks with the group.
Thousands demonstrated in central Paris on Saturday to demand action over the deaths of the activists who were found shot dead at the Kurdish information centre in Paris on Thursday. According to French media they had been shot in the head or neck.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on French President Francois Hollande to explain why he previously met one of the Kurdish activists shot dead in Paris on Thursday
At a meeting in Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Francois Hollande should “immediately disclose” why he met members of “this terrorist organization, what was discussed, to what end he was in communication with these terrorists”.
“How can you routinely meet with members of an organization labeled a terrorist group by the European Union and being sought by Interpol? What kind of politics is this?” he added.
Sakine Cansiz, who was detained and tortured in Turkey in the 1980s, is said to be close to the jailed PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan.
A second woman has been named as Fidan Dogan, 32, who worked in the information centre. She was also the Paris representative of the Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress.
The third, named as Leyla Soylemez, was a young activist.
The PKK took up arms in 1984, demanding greater autonomy for Turkey’s Kurds, who are thought to comprise up to 20% of the population.
It is regarded by Turkey, the US and European Union as a terrorist organization, because of its attacks on Turkish security forces and civilians.
In 2012 it stepped up its attacks, leading to the fiercest fighting in decades, but violence has subsided in recent months.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has suggested the killings had been designed to sabotage peace talks between Turkey and the PKK.
[youtube S3FgFbJc9fQ]
[youtube hipl0MIWm9s]
Three PKK female activists have been found dead with gunshot wounds to the head in the Kurdish Institute of Paris.
One of the women is said to be a co-founder of the militant Kurdish separatist movement, the PKK.
French Interior Minister Manuel Valls described the killings as “intolerable”.
The motive for the shootings is unclear. Some 40,000 people have died in the 25-year conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK.
However, Turkey has recently begun talks with the jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, with the aim of persuading the group to disarm.
Three PKK female activists have been found dead with gunshot wounds to the head in the Kurdish Institute of Paris
“The scene [of the crime] could give rise to the idea that this was an execution, but the investigation will have to establish the exact circumstances of this incident,” a police source told French reporters.
A Kurdish news website in France identifies one of the women as Sakine Cansiz, a founder of the PKK, while another is said to be a representative of the Brussels-based National Congress of Kurdistan and the third is a young activist.
Manuel Valls said he would visit the scene of the shootings.
“These assassinations are intolerable, and I hope the inquiry will make rapid progress but let’s allow the investigators to do their work,” he told France-Info radio.
The Federation of Kurdish Associations in France has called for a demonstration in Paris.
A powerful explosion has rocked the eastern Turkish city of Tunceli and killed at least seven people, local media reports.
The blast targeted a military vehicle, security sources told Reuters news agency.
Turkish media are reporting that seven people have been killed.
A powerful explosion has rocked the eastern Turkish city of Tunceli and killed at least seven people
The city is near the country’s Kurdish area and suspicion will automatically fall upon Kurdish rebel group the PKK.
Fighting between Turkish troops and the PKK has escalated in recent months.
Turkish TV stations showed shaky footage of workers trying to put out fires in two burnt-out vehicles.
Reports said the vehicles were blown up by remote detonation.
At least seven people have been killed and dozens more wounded in a bomb attack in Gaziantep, south-eastern Turkey, security sources and media say.
The suspected car bomb exploded close to a police station in Gaziantep, Turkey’s Dogan news agency reported.
Police officers were reported to be among the casualties and media showed a bus and other vehicles on fire.
At least seven people have been killed and dozens more wounded in a bomb attack in Gaziantep
No group has so far said it carried out the attack.
However, rebels from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) are active in south-eastern Turkey, which has a Kurdish majority.
Gaziantep’s governor Erdal Ata said the explosion had been caused by a remote-controlled car bomb, the Dogan agency said.
Earlier on Monday, two Turkish soldiers were killed and another wounded in a mine blast in south-eastern Hakkari province. Turkish officials blamed the attack on the PKK.
Clashes between the PKK – which seeks autonomy for the Kurds – and Turkey’s armed forces have increased in south-eastern Turkey over the past year.
[youtube QFcwwdZN32g]
At least 19 people have died in southeast Turkey after Kurdish rebels launched an attack on a Turkish border post, according to local media.
Rebels fired rocket launchers on an army post in Hakkari province just after midnight, NTV in Turkey said.
Turkish military jets are pursuing them and bombing their escape routes, NTV said.
Several thousand Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels are believed to be based in hideouts in northern Iraq.
At least 19 people have died in southeast Turkey after Kurdish rebels launched an attack on a Turkish border post
According to the governor for Hakkari province, Orhan Alimoglu, six soldiers, two village guards and 11 Kurdish rebels were killed in the attack near the village of Gecimili.
He said 15 soldiers were injured in the incident.
The number of clashes between the PKK and the Turkish armed forces has risen in southeast Turkey over the past year.
A series of clashes in June left dozens dead.
The PKK is classified as a terrorist organization by the EU and the US.
It launched a guerrilla campaign in 1984 for an ethnic homeland in the Kurdish heartland in the south-east of Turkey.
It has now dropped its claim to an independent Kurdish state, but says it is fighting for autonomy and the cultural rights of the Kurdish people.
Prev12Page 2 of 2
