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cannedmoose
Joined: 12 Aug 2005
Posts: 5357
Location: National Forest, England
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| Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 3:11 am Post subject: Turkish prime minister paves the way for deal with the Kurds |
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WHEN Turkey's prime minister came to power some 30 months ago, few expected his mildly Islamic government to resolve the country's knotty Kurdish question. But last week, in a landmark speech in Diyarbakir, Recep Tayyip Erdogan became the first Turkish leader ever to admit that Turkey had mishandled its rebellious Kurds. Like all great nations, declared Mr Erdogan, Turkey needed to face up to its past. He added that more democracy, not more repression, was the answer to the Kurds' long-running grievances.
Mr Erdogan's visit to the largest city in the mostly Kurdish south-east followed ground-breaking talks with a group of Turkish intellectuals, seen by some as mouthpieces for rebels of the outlawed PKK terrorist group. In these talks, Mr Erdogan pledged that, despite a renewed spasm of rebel violence, there would be no going back on his reforms. The Kurdish problem, he said, could not be solved through purely military means.
http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?story_id=4300168 |
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brother
Joined: 15 Aug 2005
Posts: 8920
Location: London/Cyprus
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| Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 11:37 am Post subject: |
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| At last they have woken up, may many good things follow for our kurdish brothers. |
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brother
Joined: 15 Aug 2005
Posts: 8920
Location: London/Cyprus
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| Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 5:26 pm Post subject: |
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Kurdish rebels declare ceasefire
The PKK has declared several unilateral ceasefires before
The Kurdish rebel group fighting for autonomy in south-eastern Turkey, the PKK, has announced a one-month ceasefire.
The statement called on the armed wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to hold fire until 20 September.
But the PKK said rebels would defend themselves if attacked.
Last week Turkey's prime minister described the situation in the south-east as a political problem which needed settling through more democracy.
The PKK statement on Friday said the ceasefire call was a response to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's speech.
"We will give time to Prime Minister Erdogan's well-intended efforts," said Zubeyir Aydar, head of the PKK's political wing Kongra-Gel.
The PKK has been blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
The rebels called off a five-year unilateral ceasefire last summer.
More than 30,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which has been going on for more than two decades.
The PKK has stepped up attacks in recent months.
It was blamed for a bomb in the Aegean resort of Kusadasi last month that killed five people, recalling a PKK campaign against tourism in 1993. |
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magikthrill
Joined: 14 Aug 2005
Posts: 630
Location: NYC
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| Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:12 pm Post subject: |
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| looks like Turkey's desparation to join the EU is no secret... |
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erolz
Joined: 11 Aug 2005
Posts: 4195
Location: Kyrenia / Girne
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| Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:16 pm Post subject: |
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magikthrill wrote: looks like Turkey's desparation to join the EU is no secret...
Whatever the reasons for these moves I think they are most welcome and encouraging. |
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magikthrill
Joined: 14 Aug 2005
Posts: 630
Location: NYC
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| Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:18 pm Post subject: |
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| i dfeinitely agree with you erol. alas, the kurds will not have the same fate that the Turkish Cypriots had. and the sad thing is the kurds wont need to steal anyone's land in order to achieve what the Turkish Cypriots did. |
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detailer
Joined: 15 Aug 2005
Posts: 473
Location: UK
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| Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:26 pm Post subject: |
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magikthrill wrote: i dfeinitely agree with you erol. alas, the kurds will not have the same fate that the Turkish Cypriots had. and the sad thing is the kurds wont need to steal anyone's land in order to achieve what the Turkish Cypriots did.
Magik,
If you(or Greek Cypriot at that time) showed the same sensitivity for the stolen rights and freeodom of Turkish Cypriot that time (which are still stolen), you wouldnt suffer for any land now. |
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magikthrill
Joined: 14 Aug 2005
Posts: 630
Location: NYC
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| Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:27 pm Post subject: |
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detailer wrote: magikthrill wrote: i dfeinitely agree with you erol. alas, the kurds will not have the same fate that the Turkish Cypriots had. and the sad thing is the kurds wont need to steal anyone's land in order to achieve what the Turkish Cypriots did.
Magik,
If you(or Greek Cypriot at that time) showed the same sensitivity for the stolen rights and freeodom of Turkish Cypriot that time (which are still stolen), you wouldnt suffer for any land now.
Detailer,
your response is as ridiculous as me saying
if you (or Ottomans at that time) had not mistreated the Greek Cypriots then you wouldnt suffer for any stolen privilges. |
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brother
Joined: 15 Aug 2005
Posts: 8920
Location: London/Cyprus
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| Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:39 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: looks like Turkey's desparation to join the EU is no secret...
More like they are waking up to the fact that you can't treat human beings like that. |
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erolz
Joined: 11 Aug 2005
Posts: 4195
Location: Kyrenia / Girne
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| Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2005 4:37 am Post subject: |
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Moderator note. Several posts were plit out from this topic at this point. They can be found here
http://www.talkcyprus.org/viewtopic.php?t=238 |
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magikthrill
Joined: 14 Aug 2005
Posts: 630
Location: NYC
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| Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2005 4:52 am Post subject: |
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(to bring us back to the topic)
brother wrote: Quote: looks like Turkey's desparation to join the EU is no secret...
More like they are waking up to the fact that you can't treat human beings like that.
More like they've been ignoring the alarm clock and needed the EU to throw some cold water on their face to wake up :lol: |
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