Middle East News

Mar 18, 2009, 10:36 GMT

Iraqi president calls on Turkey to call amnesty for PKK fighters

Ankara - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has called on Turkey to announce an amnesty for Kurdish separatists, saying this was the best way to end three decades of fighting in south-east Turkey. In an interview published in Sabah newspaper Wednesday, Talabani said he believed the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) was ready to lay down its arms and hand its weapons over to US forces in northern Iraq if a general amnesty was announced. 'My message to the PKK is to end the violence, to end the armed conflict,' Talabani said, noting that this was the same message that Turkey was giving to the Palestinian Hamas group. Talabani, in Istanbul for an international conference, said that he would make the call for the PKK to end its armed struggle at a conference next month in the northern Iraq city of Arbil at which all major Kurdish groups in the region will be attending. The Turkish military suspects there are as many as 5,000 PKK fighters holed up in northern Iraq bases from which they launch operations into Turkey. Ankara blames the separatist group for the deaths of more than 32,000 people since the early 1980s when the PKK began its fight for independence or autonomy for the mainly Kurdish-populated south-east of Turkey. The PKK is considered by the United States and the European Union to be a terrorist group.

And Also

Look Back at the Worst Celebrity Breakups

Look Back at the Worst Celebrity Breakups - PopEater
Micron uses SATA 6Gb/s to craft world's fastest SSD drive - The Tech Herald
The Lovely Bones - Cinema Blend
What Tiger Woods Could Learn From A-Rod and Kobe - PopEater
A&E series 'Hoarders' and 'Intervention' premiere Monday, Nov. 30th, preview

Your Talkback on this Story

Similar articles

More PKK fighters expected to surrender, says Turkish minister
PKK "peace caravan" crosses into Turkey (Roundup)
PKK move to test Turkey's Kurdish initiative
Turkish jets hit suspected PKK positions in northern Iraq
Turkish jets hit suspected PKK positions in northern Iraq

Latest Headlines in Middle East

Older Talkback

Middle East: Index

: News; Features

Latest Pics

From Sites we Like

Remember to get your Bowie and your big hair out of storage for this Saturday's DC Labyrinth Fark Party. We are not liable for blindness caused by staring at Bowie's... pants [FarkParty]
Sir, enclosed please find $50 you kindly gave me after I unsuccessfully tried to rob your store with a bat. Your rifle was very scary. I now have a job and a child. Yours truly, Reformed Thug [Sappy]

More Not News from Fark

In Monsters and Critics

: Arts; Books; DVD; Gaming; Lifestyle; Movies; Music; News; People; Science & Nature; Sport; TV; Archives
Other Languages and Sites: Deutschland (Monsters and Critics); The Tech Herald; Free Games

Entertainment: Arts; Books; DVD; Gaming; Movies; Music; People; Soundtracks; TV
Media: Celebrity Photos; Movie Pictures; Movie Trailers; Movie Posters; Theatre Stills; Celebrity Video; Music Video
Released this week: Movies - USA; Movies - UK; DVD - USA
Distractions: Online Games; Daily Crossword; Sudoku Classic; Daily Jigsaw

World News: US; UK; Americas; Europe; Middle East; Asia Pacific; South Asia; Africa; Business; Education; Health
Science and Tech: Science and Nature; Technology
Lifestyle: Autos; Fashion; Life; Travel

Corporate

: About; Advertise; Contact; The Team; Vacancies; Privacy; RSS; Site Map; Terms; Webmasters

The Fine Print

© 2003 - 2009 by Monsters and Critics.com, WotR Ltd. All Rights Reserved. All photos are copyright their respective owners and are used under license or with permission. * Note M&C cannot be held responsible for the content on other Web Sites.

Servers supplied by Servint