March 26, 2013
ANKARA,— Turkey's government is planning to establish a consultative body to oversee the ongoing peace negotiations with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the prime minister said on Tuesday.
"If we decide on forming a group of wise people... it will be our consultative committee," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his lawmakers in a parliamentary meeting.
"We might need a group of wise people. We wish to see every segment of (society) being represented there," he added.
The composition and functions of such a grouping were not immediately clear but Erdogan said Saturday that it might comprise academics, businessmen, NGOs and journalists.
The government initiative follows a ceasefire call from jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan last week for PKK fighters to put down their arms and withdraw from Turkish territory.
The renewed push for peace is seeking to end the PKK's 29-year armed campaign.
Since it was established in 1984, the PKK has been fighting the Turkish state, which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, to establish a Kurdish state in the south east of the country. By 2012, more than 45,000 people have since been killed.
But now its aim is the creation an autonomous region and more cultural rights for ethnic Kurds who constitute the greatest minority in Turkey. A large Turkey's Kurdish community, numbering to 25 million, openly sympathise with PKK rebels.
The PKK wants constitutional recognition for the Kurds, regional self-governance and Kurdish-language education in schools.
PKK's demands included releasing PKK detainees, lifting the ban on education in Kurdish, paving the way for an autonomous democrat Kurdish system within Turkey, reducing pressure on the detained PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, stopping military action against the Kurdish party and recomposing the Turkish constitution.
Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish language and private Kurdish language courses with the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish politicians say the measures fall short of their expectations.
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Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 3:45 pm