Pro-Kurdish Democratic People's Party Calls On PKK Terrorist Organization To Renew Ceasefire

ANKARA (CIHAN) - The Chairman of the pro-Kurdish Democratic People`s Party (DEHAP) Tuncer Bakýrhan has called on the terrorist organization, the Kurdistan Workers` Party (PKK), also known as KONGRA-GEL, to reinstate its ceasefire in Turkey.
DEHAP Chairman Tuncay Bakirhan, at a press conference in Ankara on Saturday, called on the PKK terrorist organization to renew its ceasefire given that the Turkish state had taken some important steps towards resolving Kurdish grievances. Speaking to the press, Bakirhan read out a letter addressed to the PKK leader, Zübeyir Aydar. Four members of the defunct pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DEHAP) had been released last Wednesday and the Turkish state radio television broadcaster TRT began to air programs in Kurdish dialects of Zaza and Kirmanci during the week.
The leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)/KONGRA-GEL, Zübeyir Aydar stated on June 1 that the PKK had ended its six-year unilateral ceasefire after holding a general council in the Kandil Mountains in Northern Iraq between 16 and 26 May. The PKK had announced a unilateral ceasefire in 1998 after the organization had been brought to the brink of elimination by the successful military operations of the Turkish security forces.
The PKK caused the death of more than 30,000 people in Turkey between 1984 and 1999. The European Union has included the outlawed pro-Kurdish terrorist organizations, the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK) and the Kurdistan People`s Congress (KONGRA-GEL) in the European Union`s terrorist organizations list. The leader of the PKK terrorist organization, Abdullah Öcalan, was captured by Turkish intelligence services in Kenya in February 1999. Öcalan was sentenced to death but his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment after capital punishment was abolished in Turkey.
Since the PKK announced the end its ceasefire, armed clashes between PKK terrorists and Turkish security forces have increased in southeastern and eastern Anatolia. In the last week, four armed attacks are carried out against Turkish security forces. 2 policemen and 2 soldiers died in the incidents while 2 terrorists were shot dead.
Bakirhan said that the recent armed clashes threatened the efforts towards peace.
Bakirhan said in his press conference on Saturday, "It is out of DEHAP`s power whether the DEHAP call for a renewal of the ceasefire will be effective but my hopes are high. I hope the call will be heeded. "
Bakirhan also said that he had sent a letter to the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan on May 31 conveying his ideas, criticisms and suggestions for a solution to the Kurdish problem. Bakýrhan also called on the Turkish Armed Forces to end security operations in southeastern and eastern Anatolia.
Bakirhan said that the era of clashes that had lasted 15 years had ended in 1999 and that the last five years since the announcement of the ceasefire had shown that it was possible to establish a sustainable peace in the region.
The DEHAP Chairman said that civilian action in the place of violence was very important for both the Kurdish and Turkish peoples especially since Turkey was undergoing a period of historical change.
Bakirhan said that some democratic and judicial problems still prevailed and he reiterated the DEHAP demand for the Turkish government to announce a general political pardon.
"DEHAP pays great importance to the re-evaluation of the decision to end the ceasefire," Bakirhan said and added, "DEHAP is in favor of a continuation of the ceasefire process in the search for a fair and democratic solution of the Kurdish problem."
Pointing to the broadcasting of programs in Kurdish by the Turkish state broadcaster TRT on radio and TV, Bakirhan said that the start of Kurdish programs on TV and radio was very important in acknowledging the existence of the Kurdish people in Turkey.
The Turkish State Radio Television Broadcaster (TRT) last week began to broadcast in non-Turkish languages. It will broadcast TV programs in the Bosnian language on Monday, Arabic programs on Tuesday, Kurmanji on Wednesday, Circassian on Thursday, and Zaza on Friday. The EU sees the issue of broadcasting in different languages and dialects as a crucial test for the implementation of Turkey`s EU-inspired harmonization reforms, which have been legislated with a view to boosting Turkey`s EU membership bid.
Pointing to the release of the four members of the defunct pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DEHAP), Bakirhan said that the start of the Kurdish language programs on television and radio was a similar step contributing to the solution of the Kurdish problem.
The Turkish Supreme Court of Justice 9th District Penal Court ordered the release pending appeal of the four ex-MPs of the now-defunct pro-Kurdish. The four ex-MPs of the pro-Kurdish Democracy Party were freed from Ankara Prison a few hours after the Supreme Court decision on Wednesday. Ankara State Security Court had sentenced Leyla Zana and the other former DEP deputies to 15-year jail terms in 1994 for endangering national security and participating in illegal pro-Kurdish separatist activities. However, the European Court of Human Right subsequently condemned the verdict of the Ankara No 1 DGM and requested the retrial of the former DEP MPs. The Turkish Supreme Court of Justice 9th District Penal Court on Wednesday ordered the release of the 4 ex-MPs of the now-defunct pro-Kurdish DEP - Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Selim Sadak and Orhan Dogan.