TURKEY: Citizens in Istanbul say they are sceptical about the PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan's latest ceasefire message.

Record ID: 863588

  • Title: TURKEY: Citizens in Istanbul say they are sceptical about the PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan's latest ceasefire message.
  • Date: 21st March 2013
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (MARCH 21, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AND TRAFFIC IN ISTANBUL PEOPLE PLAYING CARDS IN A LOCAL COFFEE SHOP VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WATCHING OCALAN'S STATEMENT ANNOUNCED ON TELEVISION ANNOUNCEMENT BEING READ ON TV VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WATCHING ANNOUNCEMENT (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) ISTANBUL CITIZEN, SEBAHATTIN DOGAN SAYING: "I do not think Abdullah Ocalan has enough power in jail to convince people outside. So I doubt they will listen to him, leave their weapons and get out of Turkey. This will last may be for a little while but I do not think the guns will be silenced." MORE OF PEOPLE LISTENING TO STATEMENT AND PLAYING CARDS (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) ISTANBUL CITIZEN, TURGUT DOGAN SAYING: "This is not a peace call, this is not Newroz celebrations. Today is the day when seeds of an independent Kurdish republic is buried into the soil. I am asking my government if there is any single Turkish flag waving in those celebrations?" MORE OF PEOPLE LISTENING TO ANNOUNCEMENT IN COFFEE SHOP
  • Embargoed: 5th April 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • City:
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVADBCDUBAJS2B0ODTQKF0J7E2LC
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Residents in the Turkish city of Istanbul appeared unconvinced on Thursday (March 21) that a Kurdish ceasefire would hold.
    In a message read out to Kurds at New Year celebrations in Diyabakir jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan ordered his fighters to cease fire and withdraw from Turkish soil.
    The move would end a conflict that has killed 40,000 people, riven the country and battered its economy.
    But some Istanbul citizens, who watched the live broadcast from a local coffee shop, were sceptical with one man suggesting Ocalan, who has been held since 1999 on a prison island in the Marmara Sea, had little control over his fighters.
    "I do not think Abdullah Ocalan has enough power in jail to convince people outside. So I doubt they will listen to him, leave their weapons and get out of Turkey. This will last may be for a little while but I do not think the guns will be silenced," said Istanbul citizen Sebahattin Dogan as he watched the news on television.
    Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has taken considerable risks since he was elected in 2002, breaking taboos deeply rooted in a conservative establishment, not least in the military, by extending cultural and language rights to Kurds.
    He must now carry a sceptical conservative establishment with him, just as Ocalan from his prison island must marshal and keep the obedience of fighters in the hills of northern Iraq. The road must be a rough one with suspicions on both sides.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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