Jailed Kurd Militia Leader Vows to Help End Conflict With Turkey
Kurds wave flags with the image of Abdullah Ocalan during a recent protest.
Photographer: Frederick Florin/AFP/Getty ImagesThe leader of Kurdish separatist group PKK said he’s ready to cooperate with the Turkish government in a bid to end a long-running conflict that’s claimed thousands of lives, according to a statement by the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM, on Sunday.
“Re-strengthening the Turkish-Kurdish fellowship has not only become a historical responsibility, but also of fateful importance and urgency for all peoples,” Abdullah Ocalan was cited as saying. “I am ready to take the necessary positive step and make the necessary call,” he said when a party delegation met him on Saturday at Imrali Island, where he’s been imprisoned since his capture in 1999.