MIDEAST-CRISIS/TURKEY-KURDS-PROTEST Kurds hold rally, denounce Turkey raids on rebels

Record ID: 144599

  • Title: MIDEAST-CRISIS/TURKEY-KURDS-PROTEST Kurds hold rally, denounce Turkey raids on rebels
  • Date: 9th August 2015
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF RALLY UNDERWAY
  • Embargoed: 24th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAEC0UM0U0SZE1SZPXE9EA2BT5H
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Several thousand Kurds held a peace rally in Istanbul on Sunday (August 9) denouncing the policies of AK Party government and calling for an end to hostilities with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
    The Turkish military launched an air campaign against PKK camps in northern Iraq on July 24 after a resurgence of militant attacks.
    State-run Anadolu news agency said more than 260 militants had been killed, including senior PKK figures, and more than 400 wounded by August 1 but gave no source for the figures.
    The fighting threatens tenuous peacemaking efforts, with the PKK having declared last month that it was stepping up attacks and accusing Turkey of violating a 2013 ceasefire.
    Pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) Leader Selahattin Demirtas blamed AK Party government for a surge in violence.
    "The greatest madness in this country is the one imposed by the AK Party. AK Party is the one forcing us entering a war. Nobody else is doing that. People want peace. PKK have declared they also want peace. They declared they are ready for talks," Demirtas told the rally.
    Demonstrators called for an end to hostilities and said peace talks should be resumed as soon as possible.
    "We don't want war. PKK would probably lay down arms if there is peace. PKK would definitely lay down their weapons if peace will prevail. There is nothing else to say," demonstrator Bayram Taskin said.
    "Everybody should embrace this process (to resume peace talks) and it should start as soon as possible," another demonstrator Ayse said.
    PKK militants attacked a military outpost and a police car in southeast Turkey overnight, killing a policeman, officials and security sources said on Sunday (August 9).
    Late on Saturday (August 8), PKK gunmen fired on a police car in the town of Midyat in Mardin province, killing one officer and wounding another, the governor's office said in a statement.
    PKK fighters also launched rockets at a military outpost in the Bulanik district of Mus province, triggering a brief gunfight, security sources said. No casualties were reported.
    A day earlier, six people were killed in clashes between security forces and militants in the mainly Kurdish southeast.
    The HDP has played an important role in the peace process with regular visits to PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in his jail on Imrali island south of Istanbul.
    The HDP called in a statement on Sunday for an end to military operations and restoration of the truce.
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