Kurdish party denies Ocalan asked PKK rebels to leave country without their weapons

Turkey's main pro-Kurdish political party denied media reports that jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan had told his fighters to leave the country without their weapons under a peace plan.

A weapons-free withdrawal by Ocalan’s Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), as sought by the government, would be seen as a significant step towards ending a conflict that has dragged on for three decades and killed more than 40,000 people.

The Yeni Safak daily, which is close to the government, said Ocalan had given the withdrawal message on Wednesday to a delegation from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) which visited him in his island prison, south of Istanbul.

BDP co-leader Selahattin Demirtas, who was one of the delegates, said Ocalan had prepared a letter on the subject but had not delivered any message on Wednesday. "First of all I want to state clearly that Mr Ocalan did not pass on a clear message regarding the withdrawal during our visit yesterday, nor did he give us a letter," Mr Demirtas told Kurdish television channel Nuce TV.

“However, he told us he had written a letter on this subject and that it would reach us in one or two days. We expect to receive this letter today or tomorrow. He said the details were in this letter,” he added.

It was not clear whether the letter would be addressed to the PKK or others, but Mr Demirtas said a reply was expected to be sent to Imrali within a week. He said developments on the withdrawal were expected to become clear next week.

Only Ocalan and a few Turkish officials have direct knowledge of the peace process and details until now have only filtered out through media close to the government.

The PKK declared a ceasefire with Turkey last month in response to an order from Ocalan after months of talks with Ankara to halt a conflict that began in 1984.

The group has demanded legal protection to prevent military attacks on its fighters during their planned departure to northern Iraq, a condition rejected by the government.

Hundreds of PKK militants are estimated to have been killed in clashes with security forces during a previous withdrawal in 1999 after Ocalan’s capture and conviction for treason.

Prime minister Tayyip Erdogan has said he guarantees there will be no repeat of such fighting. But he opposes legislation, saying rebels should disarm to remove the risk of firefights with Turkish forces.

– (Reuters)