Kurdistan Observer

Turkish Kurd Chief Slams Ankara for Snubbing Ceasefire

DIYARBAKIR, (Northern Kurdistan), Dec 23, 2006 (AFP) - The leader of Turkey's main Kurdish party slammed Ankara Saturday for failing to respond to a unilateral ceasefire called by Kurdish separatists earlier this year.

"We were expecting the government to make use of this process aimed at ending the bloodshed, but unfortunately... the state remains indifferent," Ahmet Turk said in Diyarbakir, the principal city of the mainly Kurdish southeast where the rebels have waged a bloody fight for independence.

Turk, chairman of the Democratic Society Party (DTP), also denounced Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc for refusing to meet a group of Kurdish activists earlier this month.

"We see this as a blow dealt to peace," he said. "In the eyes of our people, the government has failed to pass the test."

Turk said his party, which is not represented in parliament, would continue to work for a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish conflict, but added: "We are always ready to... pay with our lives for freedom and democracy."

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been behind the 22-year campaign for Kurdish self-rule in the southeast, declared a unilateral truce from October 1, saying it wanted to pave the way for a dialogue to resolve the conflict.

The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives since the PKK, considered a terrorist group by Ankara, the EU and the United States, took up arms in 1984.

This year's ceasefire, like previous ones called by the PKK, was quickly rejected by Ankara, but fighting has decreased markedly since then.

A PKK commander warned earlier this month that the group would call off the ceasefire if Ankara continues to pursue the rebels and fails to introduce measures to improve Kurdish rights.

Activists have been calling particularly for a general amnesty for PKK militants to encourage them to lay down their arms for good.

Ankara, on the other hand, has been pressing Washington and Baghdad to clamp down on PKK bases in neighboring northern Iraq, where the rebels have enjoyed safe haven for years.