BELGIUM: Kurds in Belgium welcome jailed Kurdish rebel leader Ocalan's call to stop hostilities

Record ID: 831538

  • Title: BELGIUM: Kurds in Belgium welcome jailed Kurdish rebel leader Ocalan's call to stop hostilities
  • Date: 21st March 2013
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF KURDISH PEOPLE WATCHING CEASEFIRE ANNOUNCEMENT PIN WITH KNK SYMBOL (SOUNDBITE) (Kurdish) PRESIDENT OF THE UNION OF COMMUNITIES IN KURDISTAN (KCK) ZUBEYIR AYDAR SAYING: "The implication of this message was clear, which claimed that a new time, a new era, a new process is starting, and this was quite clear." PAINTING OF FIVE KURDISH RESISTANCE LEADERS / KURDISH PEOPLE WATCHING TELEVISION MAN WEARING PIN WITH KURDISH COLOURS (SOUNDBITE) (Kurdish) PRESIDENT OF THE UNION OF COMMUNITIES IN KURDISTAN (KCK) ZUBEYIR AYDAR, SAYING: "Kurdish people are with this message, the Kurdish movement is with this message. We support, we back this message and we will continue in this way behind our leader, our President Mr. Ocalan. " GROUP OF KURDISH PEOPLE WATCHING TELEVISION KURDISH MAN WATCHING TELEVISION TELEVISION SCREEN SHOWING KURDISH CELEBRATION IN DIYARBAKIR (SOUNDBITE) (German) CHAIR OF THE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMISSION OF THE KNK SONGUL KARABULUT, SAYING: "He speaks of a new era of combat that will not be fought with arms but with political means, so in that respect I think that Kurd diaspora will identify with this message. I am sure they will do their utmost to contribute to a peaceful and successful conclusion of this phase." VARIOUS OF KURDISH PEOPLE APPLAUDING AFTER THE CONCLUSION OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT MAN SMILING, TALKING WITH OTHER KURDISH PEOPLE KURDISH PEOPLE TALKING
  • Embargoed: 5th April 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3QIG9DQAHQOQI86JN0CUFY2XA
  • Story Text: Kurdish people in Belgium welcomed on Thursday (March 21) Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan's call to halt hostilities with Turkey.
    Ocalan ordered his fighters on Thursday to cease fire and withdraw from Turkish soil as a step to ending a conflict that has killed 40,000 people, riven the country and battered its economy.
    Some Kurdish people gathered at the Kurdish National Congress (KNK) headquarters in Brussels to watch the celebrations on television which were broadcast live on national television, something that would have been unthinkable even a few months ago. They welcomed a 'new era' for the Kurdish community.
    "The implication of this message was clear, which claimed that a new time, a new era, a new process is starting, and this was quite clear," Zubeyir Aydar, president of the Union of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK) told Reuters.
    Beyond the ceasefire there are still dangers of division over the terms of a deal or between the PKK figures negotiating it. The process could also be complicated by the ambitions of other Kurdish groups across the border in Syria, Iran and Iraq.
    But Songul Karabulut, chair of the foreign relations commission of the KNK, said the Kurd diaspora would support a 'peaceful and successful conclusion'.
    "He speaks of a new era of combat that will not be fought with arms but with political means, so in that respect I think that Kurd diaspora will identify with this message. I am sure they will do their utmost to contribute to a peaceful and successful conclusion of this phase," she said.
    According to the Kurdish community in Brussels, Kurds are distributed throughout the middle east and claim to be "one people from four states." They estimate that there are about two million Kurdish people living in Europe and that between 30 and 40 thousand live in Belgium.
    The PKK is regarded as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union and Turkey. The party began campaigning for an independent Kurdistan state in Turkey in 1984. It has since moderated its demands to political autonomy and broader cultural rights in an area where the Kurdish language was long formally banned. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erodgan has largely extended cultural and language rights to Kurds in Turkey.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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