Outlawed PKK extends cease-fire in Turkey

A leader of an outlawed terrorist group that has been fighting against the Turkish state for decades said Thursday that the group would extend its unilateral cease-fire for another month. Murat Karayılan, a senior member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, appealed for Turkish leaders to open talks over their demands for greater rights in Southeast Turkey.

He said the group was willing to indefinitely suspend attacks if Turkey agrees to concessions such as releasing jailed Kurdish politicians. Karayılan spoke to reporters Thursday from a PKK base in the Kandil Mountains northwest of Sulaimaniyah in Iraq.

The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, began the cease-fire in mid-August to mark the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.


/Hurriyet Daily News/