Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. GPS News .




THE STANS
PKK to withdraw fighters if Turkey shows goodwill: commander
by Staff Writers
Istanbul (AFP) March 23, 2013


The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) will only pull its fighters out of Turkey once it sees concrete steps from Ankara following the outlawed group's ceasefire, a top rebel commander said Saturday.

Murat Karayilan made the warning in a video message in which he said the PKK was officially proclaiming the ceasefire which jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan called for on Thursday.

Ocalan also called for PKK fighters to withdraw from Turkish territory, but Karayilan said they would only start doing so once the PKK had seen acts of good faith and commitment to long-lasting peace from the Turkish government.

"For the moment, we are waiting for these conditions to be put in place," he said in the video broadcast by the Kurdish Firat news agency.

The PKK has bases in the Kandil Mountains in the autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq to which the fighters would be expected to withdraw.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has responded cautiously to the much-anticipated ceasefire announcement by saying Turkey would end military operations against the PKK if militants halt their attacks.

Erdogan and Ocalan both appear to have staked their political futures on the renewed push to end the 29-year armed campaign for Kurdish self-rule that has killed some 45,000 people, mostly Kurds.

.


Related Links
News From Across The Stans






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








THE STANS
Cricket legend kickstarts Pakistan election campaign
Lahore, Pakistan (AFP) March 23, 2013
Cricket legend Imran Khan is expected to unveil his manifesto to become Pakistan's next prime minister at an election rally on Saturday, where turnout will be a key test for his chances of success. Thousands of people poured towards Pakistan's independence monument in Lahore, the country's second largest city and Khan's hometown, waving the red and green flags of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaa ... read more


THE STANS
Haitian farmers call for 'food sovereignty'

Global nitrogen availability consistent for past 500 years, linked to carbon levels

Chinese appetite makes peanuts the new 'gold' in Senegal

Study: Farming by man was long in coming

THE STANS
NIST microscope measures nanomagnet property vital to 'spintronics'

Surprising Control over Photoelectrons from a Topological Insulator

Organic nanowires open the way for optoelectronic device miniaturization

Ultra-high-speed optical communications link sets new power efficiency record

THE STANS
Northrop Grumman Delivers 100th Center Fuselage for F-35 Lightning II

EU puts airline carbon tax on hold for a year

First Lockheed Martin F-35As Report to Nellis AFB for Operational Testing

Listening for the Boom and Rattle of Supersonic Flight

THE STANS
Man creates car that runs on liquid air

Greener cars could slash US pollution by 2050: study

Volkswagen eyes Chinese growth after record profits

Russian dashcams digital guardian angels for drivers

THE STANS
Chinese workers jailed for high-rise demo in Singapore

China sets sights on S. America resources

U.K. envoy move eases Paraguay isolation

China foreign direct investment overseas soars 147%

THE STANS
Disney invests in Peru to prevent deforestation

Logging debris gives newly planted Douglas-fir forests a leg-up

Logging debris gives newly planted Douglas-fir forests a leg-up

Are tropical forests resilient to global warming?

THE STANS
CSTARS Awarded Funding Over Three Years By Office of Naval Research

Google Maps adds view from Mt. Everest

Significant reduction in temperature and vegetation seasonality over northern latitudes

GOCE: the first seismometer in orbit

THE STANS
Smallest Vibration Sensor in the Quantum World

New technique could improve optical devices

Silver nanoparticles may adversely affect environment

Scientists delve deeper into carbon nanotubes




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement