Turkish PM open to talks with Kurdish rebels

Two Turkish soldiers were killed and 13 Kurdish rebels from the PKK Wednesday during an army operation near the Iraqi border southeast Turkey, local security sources confirmed Thursday.

This as Turkey announced that it is open to the resumption of talks with the jailed Kurdish rebel leader in a bid to end the decades-long conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people, the country's prime minister said.
     
Recep Tayyip Erdogan's statement late Wednesday comes amid a surge in violence in recent months between Turkish forces and rebels of Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, who seek self-rule in southeast Turkey and took up arms in 1984. Dozens of security personnel have been killed in attacks in recent weeks, while Erdogan said last week that as many as 500 Kurdish rebels have been killed or captured in fighting.
    
Erdogan told Kanal 7 television that "there could talks again" on the prison island of Imrali, off Istanbul, where PKK's leader, Abdullah Ocalan, is serving a life term. Excerpts of the interview were carried by the state-run Anadolu Agency.
     
The Turkish leader however, reiterated that the PKK had to relinquish arms and end attacks.
    
The government refuses to talk directly to the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, but has admitted that Turkish officials have held secret discussions with Ocalan, as well as with other PKK members, as recently as 2011, which, the officials say, have ended in failure.
     
A pro-Kurdish party has been calling for a resumption of talks between Ankara and the rebels saying "dialogue" is the only solution. The party, however, wants both the PKK and the Turkish military to end the hostilities. The government has said the military would end operations only after the group lays down arms.
    
At least 239 PKK rebels, 144 security force members and 29 civilians have died in the conflict this year, Erdogan told Kanal 7.


AP