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KURDISH REBELS ACCUSE TURKISH ARMY OF ENDANGERING PEACEFUL PULLOUT
May 7, 2013 - 17:52 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey's Kurdish rebels have accused the army
of endangering an agreed pullout of rebel fighters from the mostly
Kurdish southeast, due to start on Wednesday, May 8 with surveillance
drones and large-scale movements of men and equipment, Reuters said.
Top Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) commander Murat Karayilan ordered
his fighters last month to begin withdrawing to bases in northern
Iraq as part of a plan to end three decades of conflict with the
Turkish state.
However, huge distrust remains. The PKK has not accepted a government
demand that its fighters should lay down their weapons before
withdrawing, fearing that they could come under attack, as they did
in a previous pullback. The army has made clear that the suspicion
is mutual.
The PKK said accelerated construction of military outposts and dams in
southeast Turkey was also provocative. But it said it still expected
the pullout to begin on time, with the first groups due in northern
Iraq within a week.
Karayilan has warned that PKK fighters will retaliate if the Turkish
army launches any kind of operation against them.
May 7, 2013 - 17:52 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey's Kurdish rebels have accused the army
of endangering an agreed pullout of rebel fighters from the mostly
Kurdish southeast, due to start on Wednesday, May 8 with surveillance
drones and large-scale movements of men and equipment, Reuters said.
Top Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) commander Murat Karayilan ordered
his fighters last month to begin withdrawing to bases in northern
Iraq as part of a plan to end three decades of conflict with the
Turkish state.
However, huge distrust remains. The PKK has not accepted a government
demand that its fighters should lay down their weapons before
withdrawing, fearing that they could come under attack, as they did
in a previous pullback. The army has made clear that the suspicion
is mutual.
The PKK said accelerated construction of military outposts and dams in
southeast Turkey was also provocative. But it said it still expected
the pullout to begin on time, with the first groups due in northern
Iraq within a week.
Karayilan has warned that PKK fighters will retaliate if the Turkish
army launches any kind of operation against them.