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| The Grand Turk |
| Pro-Kurdish party urges Ankara to 'take step' for peace |
| 2013-07-01 |
| [Al Ahram] A pro-Kurdish party said it will launch on Sunday rallies in several cities to press the Turkish government to "do its part" to settle the nearly three-decade old conflict in southeast Turkey. "Our party is calling on our people as well as all oppressed and ignored segments of society to say 'Government, take a step' in order to step up the struggle for democracy," the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) said in a statement. The party is calling on Ankara to "do its part" for a democratic solution to the bloody conflict and to "stay away from any actions" which could undermine the grinding of the peace processor. The BDP said one of its main demands was to ensure freedom for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been serving a life prison term on a remote island off Istanbul since his 1999 capture. The PKK first took up arms for Kurdish self-rule in southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has cost some 45,000 lives. The BDP's other demands included release of Kurdish prisoners and political activists, the lifting of restrictions on education in the Kurdish language and reducing the 10-percent election threshold required to secure seats in the 550-seat parliament. The BDP-led campaign comes after Ocalan said Tuesday that he has sent Ankara a set of proposals for the next phase in peace efforts to follow the withdrawal of rebel fighters from Turkish soil. |
| Posted by:Fred |