"Turkey: Government Under Growing Pressure To Meet Kurdish Demands
By Jean-Christophe Peuch, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
August 15 marked the 21st anniversary of the start of Turkey's Kurdish insurgency. On 15 August 1984, suspected militants from the Marxist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), killed two police officers in twin attacks in the Anatolian villages of Eruh and Semdinli. The killings marked the start of a 15-year armed campaign for Kurdish self-determination. Following a series of military setbacks and the 1999 capture of their leader, Abdullah Ocalan, PKK militants declared a unilateral truce and sought refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan. But citing Ankara's refusal to suspend hostilities, the group in 2004 called off its cease-fire and reportedly resumed attacks against Turkish targets. Regional experts say that while most Kurds would like the PKK to renounce violence, the responsibility for establishing a lasting peace ultimately falls to Ankara."
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