Islamic party calls for a cease-fire after university clashes

ANKARA - Hürriyet

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The Free Cause Party (HÜDAPAR) leader Hüseyin Yılmaz has called for a cease-fire between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Hizbullah, in the wake of three days of fighting between Islamic and Kurdish student groups in Diyarbakır’s Dicle University.

“I call on the two sides. A cease-fire must be secured between the Kurds’ two significant organized forces, the PKK and Hizbullah. They must sign an agreement. This is necessary to provide peace among Kurds. Otherwise, we will often see provocations similar to ones we saw in Dicle,” Yılmaz told daily Hürriyet today.

HÜDAPAR is affiliated with Hizbullah, a terror organization in Turkey, which is unrelated to the Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah.

Three students have been stabbed in brawls at Dicle University, during three days of violent confrontations between students, which started on April 8. The PKK and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) promised HÜDAPAR that there will not be any more such incidents in a meeting via mediators, said Yılmaz.

“Upon this promise, a group of students who have Islamic sensitivities, and are also close to Hizbullah, went to the university. Those who claimed to be PKK sympathizers trapped these students and attacked them. One student’s health situation is critical, I hope [she/he] won’t die,” said Yılmaz.

Yılmaz said that he hoped no new conflict would emerge, when reminded of the tension between the PKK and Hizbullah in the 1990s.

“I hope the incidents in the past will not be repeated. The PKK should apologize. There is an attack which was carried out with the mentality that ‘the university is ours, we can do whatever we want.’

The PKK should apologize and call on its sympathizers and members to calm down,” Yılmaz added.