The rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
is ready to hand over a Turkish soldier it kidnapped two weeks ago if the
government provides security guarantees, a pro-Kurdish news agency reported
Sunday.
The decision was taken after calls from "democratic organisations including
Turkish and Kurdish intellectuals" for the soldier, Coskun Kirandi, to be set
free, said a statement by Koma Komalen Kurdistan, an umbrella Kurdish group
which also includes the PKK.
The statement, published on the Internet site of the Germany-based MHA news
agency, offered to hand the soldier over to representatives of the groups which
asked for his release.
"We have completed the preparations to hand over Kirandi safe and sound on
the condition a delegation comes to the region and a secure environment is in
place," it added.
The statement did not specify which organisations the PKK deemed fit to hand
over the kidnapped soldier.
The 21-year-old Kirandi was kidnapped while on furlough on July 11 by PKK
rebels who set up a roadblock in Tunceli province, stopping about 40 vehicles
and robbing their occupants.
The rebels led the soldier into the nearby mountains, triggering a huge
security operation by hundreds of troops, backed by helicopters.
