Jailed Kurdish rebel leader may call for a ceasefire

Jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan is expected tomorrow to make what he has billed an "historic" appeal, raising expectations of a ceasefire in a 28-year conflict that has riven Turkey, killing some 40,000 people.

A statement from his prison cell, expected to be relayed via a Kurdish politician this week, may cement peace talks with the government that have been progressing tentatively since October.

A ceasefire call, coinciding with the Kurdish new year, could be accompanied by a command to his Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants to withdraw to bases in northern Iraq where the PKK says it keeps about half of its 7,000 fighters.

"The statement I am preparing will be a historic call. It will contain satisfying information on the military and political dimensions of a solution," said Ocalan, who was captured by Turkish special forces in Kenya 14 years ago and long vilified as a murderer and "baby killer" in Turkish media.

“We want to solve the arms problem rapidly and without losing time or another life,” Ocalan said in asking for the support of parliament and political parties to achieve peace in the Kurds’ fight for autonomy.

The PKK is considered a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union as well as Turkey.

But Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has promoted the contacts since a worsening of the conflict brought rising guerrilla violence and large-scale arrests of Kurdish activists.

Ethnic Kurds straddle the border between Turkey and Iraq and, while the government in Ankara and Turkey’s Kurdish minority have agreed ceasefires in the past, they have not held. However, in the current peace process, Ocalan and a Turkish minister have spoken of talks on a comprehensive settlement. There was no immediate comment on his statement from the government, which says it seeks peace but will continue to counter PKK operations until it lays down its arms.

Air raids
Turkey has launched air raids and ground operations against PKK bases, and gives smaller numbers for the rebels' strength.

Before the statement was delivered, justice minister Sadullah Ergin said he expected a withdrawal of PKK guerrillas to bases in northern Iraq to be completed by the end of this year, according to Milliyet newspaper.

Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) leader Selahattin Demirtas, a member of parliament, conveyed Ocalan's statement on his return to Istanbul on Monday from a visit to his prison on the island of Imrali.

Ocalan was initially sentenced to be hanged for treason on Imrali, but this was commuted to life imprisonment. "Apo ", as he is known to his allies, had been kept largely in isolation since then with no contact with his field commanders. He was not allowed a television until a few months ago. – (Reuters)