another mighty blow in the War on Terror
Sep. 26th, 2006 01:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
winterbadgerhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5380986.stm
Fifty-six Kurdish mayors have gone on trial in Turkey, charged with aiding and abetting a terrorist organisation.
They were indicted after writing to the Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen asking him not to close down Danish-based Kurdish Roj TV station.
The government in Ankara says the station is a mouthpiece for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
...
Turkey - as well as the EU and the US - views the PKK as a terrorist organisation.
The PKK implemented a five-year unilateral ceasefire after its leader Abdullah Ocalan was arrested in 1999, but resumed armed activities in 2004.
After Abdullah Ocalan's arrest it also dropped its demands for an independent Kurdish state, calling instead for Ankara to open a political dialogue, increase cultural rights for Kurds and release imprisoned PKK members.
But Ankara has so far ignored all such calls.
Fifty-six Kurdish mayors have gone on trial in Turkey, charged with aiding and abetting a terrorist organisation.
They were indicted after writing to the Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen asking him not to close down Danish-based Kurdish Roj TV station.
The government in Ankara says the station is a mouthpiece for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
...
Turkey - as well as the EU and the US - views the PKK as a terrorist organisation.
The PKK implemented a five-year unilateral ceasefire after its leader Abdullah Ocalan was arrested in 1999, but resumed armed activities in 2004.
After Abdullah Ocalan's arrest it also dropped its demands for an independent Kurdish state, calling instead for Ankara to open a political dialogue, increase cultural rights for Kurds and release imprisoned PKK members.
But Ankara has so far ignored all such calls.
