| Berwexdan originally popped this into the holding tank with just the citation, but the article is pretty informative so here it is. |
KONGRA-GEL, the successor to the outlawed separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), has ended its ceasefire and warned tourists and foreign investors to avoid Turkey, a report said Saturday. The report came after a spate of recent violence and as Turkey prepares to host US President George W. Bush and other leaders at a major NATO summit in Istanbul on June 28-29. "Our commitment to the ceasefire will cease to exist from June 1," KONGRA-GEL said in a statement carried on the website of the German-based pro-Kurdish Mesopotamia news agency.
| "We are ceasing the ceasefire so as to cease the ceasing of fire!" |
KONGRA-GEL said the ceasefire which it has observed since September 1999 had become meangingless because of what it called "effective annihilation operations" carried out by Turkish security forces against its fighters over the past three months, the report said. "Tourists should not choose Turkey," the statement added. "We appeal to people wanting to invest in Turkey not to come here and choose to invest in a conflict zone. Otherwise we will not be responsible for the damage." ... "We will engage in various types of activities targeting Turkish forces," it said.
| Such as running away, duck and cover, and making faces when the Turks turn their backs. |
Some 5,000 PKK rebels are currrently cowering holed up in the mountains of northern Iraq's Kurdish region. The PKK has several times changed names and is now known as Gillette KONGRA-GEL. Its reincarnations have also been put on the list of terrorist organizations by both the United States and the European Union. Turkish officials had categorically rejected the rebels' 1999 truce. But Ankara has since then made some concessions towards its Kurdish population, who make up some 20 percent of the 70-million-strong population. It has allowed private institutions to teach the Kurdish language and permitted limited Kurdish-language broadcasts in a bid to boost its chances of joining the European Union.
There was no immediate reaction from Turkish officials Saturday to the reported end to the ceasefire.
| "Atul! Get the 1st battalion ready for operations, we need to send a response!" |
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