Talabani calls on PKK to drop arms

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was “convinced” by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani regarding a solution to the bloody conflict, according to a TV report. Talabani also said the PKK had proposed two conditions to lay down arms.

“They told me they want a general amnesty for PKK members and that the new constitution should state that Turkey consists of not only Turks but also other people,” Talabani told the Iraqiya TV channel, according to private broadcaster CNNTürk.

Talabani said he was successful in convincing the PKK on a solution and “half-successful” in convincing the Turkish side.

Speaking in Moscow, a top Turkish official said the PKK must not use any potential cease-fire as an opportunity to prepare for new battles but should instead abandon its armed struggle. The era marked by the policies of denial and assimilation are now over in Turkey, Ömer Çelik, the deputy leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), told reporters in Moscow.

“No rights can be won by armed struggle, the PKK should lay down arms,” Çelik said, Anatolia news agency reported.

Çelik’s comments followed a similar call by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. Speaking to semi-official Iraqiya television, Talabani said the PKK had proposed two conditions to lay down its arms.

“They told me they want a general amnesty for PKK members and that the new constitution should state that Turkey consists of not only Turks but also other people,” Talabani said, according to private broadcaster CNNTürk.

Talabani said he was successful in convincing the PKK on a solution and “half-successful” in convincing the Turkish side.

Meanwhile, 28 people were detained in a recent Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) operation in the Cizre and Silopi districts of the southeastern province of Şırnak yesterday.

The detainees include Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) officials as well as provincial council members.

The KCK is the alleged urban wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is recognized as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

On Saturday, 70 people who were detained last week in Istanbul and the southeastern province of Diyarbakır were arrested for alleged links to a terrorist organization.

Lawyers make up 42 of the suspects because of their connections to Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the PKK, who allegedly relayed his directives to the KCK through the lawyers from the İmralı Island Prison where he is serving a life sentence.

Öcalan could be questioned as part of the probe, especially to shed light on the alleged links between KCK and PKK, reports said.

Çelik, meanwhile, defended the controversial recent operations against the KCK.

“The judiciary will have the final decision, but no one can call it a civil society group when an organization that names itself the KCK throws Molotov cocktails in city centers and terrorizes people,” said the deputy AKP leader, adding that every state has the right to protect its citizens.