Ankara - The condemned Kurdish rebel chief, Abdullah Ocalan, said yesterday it was unrealistic to expect his guerrillas to surrender and such a demand would have no chance of ending Turkey's Kurdish conflict.
His statement followed a call he issued from his island jail on Tuesday for his Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) "to end the armed struggle and withdraw their forces outside the borders of Turkey, for the sake of peace, from September 1st, 1999".
Ocalan, condemned to hang by a Turkish court in June for treason, was criticised in Turkey for not going far enough and ordering PKK militants to lay down their arms.