PKK threatens to retaliate against Turkey

MOUNT QANDIL  ( 2008-03-28 14:08:41 ) : 

Turkey's rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has threatened to retaliate against Ankara after the violence during the New Year celebration of Newroz in southeastern Turkey.
"The Turkish state must listen to the message of freedom from the Kurdish people and immediately halt its violence against civilians," the number two of the PKK group, Bozam Tekim, told AFP in an interview on Thursday.
"There will be uncontrolled reaction. The Turkish state and the ruling party will bear the responsibility of these new developments."
Tekim warned that unless Ankara ended its actions of "abuse against civilians, the PKK will retaliate".
The interview was conducted in the Qandil mountains, an area of tall, rugged mountains which serves as a PKK hideout in Iraq's autonomous northern Kurdish region along the border with Turkey and Iran.
Two people were killed and dozens injured over the past week in southeast Turkey during the celebration of the Kurdish new year, which fell on March 21.
Dozens of people have been detained in Turkey's mainly Kurdish-populated southeast where celebrations of Newroz Day turned into protests of support for the PKK.
Newroz is a traditional platform for Turkey's Kurds to demonstrate support for the rebels and demand broader rights. "The Kurdish people continue to fight for freedom. They have once again demonstrated their support for the PKK and its leader Abdullah Ocalan (PKK founder who is imprisoned in Turkey)," said Tekim, whose group is regarded as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and European Union.
"The new violence against civilians demonstrates that the Turkish state continues its policy of force and denial of our rights," he charged.
The recent incursions by the Turkish army in northern Iraq, "despite the support of the United States, has resulted in its failure", the rebel leader said.
The Turkish army "got a severe lesson" during the incursion in the last week of February in the Zap region of Iraq.
The PKK claims it killed 127 Turkish soldiers and lost nine of its fighters.
Ankara says it dealt a severe blow to the rebel movement during the incursion that killed 240 rebels.

Dalai Lama appeals for talks with Beijing

NEW DELHI: The Dalai Lama appealed to China Friday to enter into "meaningful dialogue" over the crisis in Tibet, asserting he did not want to undermine the Beijing Olympics and was not seeking independence.
In an open letter to his "Chinese brothers and sisters," the exiled spiritual leader said he was a "simple monk" trying to preserve "the Tibetan people's distinctive culture, language and identity."
He warned, however, that Chinese "state media's portrayal of the recent events in Tibet, using deceit and distorted images, could sow the seeds of racial tension with unpredictable long-term consequences."
"Even at this juncture I have expressed my willingness to the Chinese authorities to work together to bring about peace and stability," he said in the statement, carried by his exiled administration's website Tibet.net.
"I have appealed to the leadership of the PRC (People's Republic of China) to clearly understand my position and work to resolve these problems. I urge the Chinese leadership to exercise wisdom and to initiate a meaningful dialogue with the Tibetan people," the message said.

Sectarian clashes intensify in northwest Pakistan

KOHAT, Pakistan, March 28 (Reuters): Sectarian violence intensified in a tribal region of northwest Pakistan Friday, with at least 22 people reportedly killed in gunbattles, said Qalb-i-Hassan, a newly elected provincial legislator from Kohat town. Fighting overnight was concentrated in three villages of Kohat district of North West Frontier Province and the tribesmen were armed with semi-automatic weapons, machine guns, mortars and rockets. “I have reports that at least 22 people were killed in fighting overnight,” said Kamran Zeb, a senior administrator in Kohat. The latest clashes, between the Mishti and Kachai tribes, brought the toll to more than 50 in an outbreak of sectarian violence that began last week.