"Turkey rejects Ocalan’s truce offer
Web posted at: 9/30/2006 9:13:56
Source ::: AFP
ANKARA • Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rejected jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan’s appeal for a rebel ceasefire, calling instead on Kurdish separatists to lay down their arms.
Ocalan made the appeal through his lawyers on Thursday from his prison cell following an upsurge in rebel violence that has raised tensions in Turkey at a time when stability is crucial for its bid to join the European Union. “A ceasefire is done between states. It is not something for the terrorist organisation,” Erdogan told the private Samanyolu television channel late Thursday, referring to Ocalan’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)."
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