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Kurdish conflict flares up in Turkey

Politics Materials 19 May 2011 08:27 (UTC +04:00)
Kurdish conflict flares up in Turkey
Kurdish conflict flares up in Turkey

Azerbaijan, Baku, May 17 /Trend, A.Taghiyeva/

Activization of the Kurdistan Workers' Party in the period of preparations for the parliamentary elections promises Turkey a difficult period during which the government will face many challenges, said Turkish expert Mustafa Ozcan.

"Kurdistan Workers' Party, in a conspiracy with the pro-Kurdish Party for Peace and Democracy, tries to achieve certain goals, and this causes concerns of the country's government, especially in the period before the election, Ozcan said by the telephone from Ankara.

The second man in Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Murad Kaprayilan repeated threats of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to start a new war if the Turkish authorities do not satisfy the requirements of the Kurds on autonomy and resolve the Kurdish issue.

Previously sentenced to life imprisonment in Turkey, the PKK head Abdullah Ocalan through his lawyers sent a warning message to the Turkish authorities, according to CNN Turk. The message by Ocalan has called June 15 the deadline, after which a great war will start if Turkey does not begin reasonable negotiations to resolve the Kurdish issue. Ocalan has expressed dissatisfaction with the policy of persecution of Kurds, pursued by Turkey.

In turn, the pro-Kurdish Party for Peace and Democracy accuses the Turkish government of deepening the crisis. Kurdistan Workers' Party has been seeking autonomy for Kurds in southeastern Turkey for more than a quarter of century. The conflict has claimed over 40,000 lives.

PKK has been recognized by the UN and EU as a terrorist organization.
According to Ozcan, the cause of recent activization of the Kurdish separatists in Turkey is the events taking place in Arab countries. Inspired by revolutions in the Arab world, the PKK is trying to raise the country's Kurds to national movement against the government, expert said.

The expert also believes that the ruling party is extremely passive in this matter and has no specific plans to counter a possible uprising. "After an unsuccessful attempt to implement a program of "democratic solution to Kurdish problem" in 2009, the Turkish authorities behave more passively and do not take concrete steps," he added.

Ozcan also said that the only action of the ruling party in this matter will be an attempt not to give a reason for the PKK to began aggression.

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