Öcalan's (PKK) call for a truce hailed in Brussels
(BRUSSELS2) The appeal of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) “to lay down their arms and withdraw behind the Turkish border” (*) was greeted on Friday in Brussels by the High Representative of the EU, Catherine Ashton as well as by the Commissioner responsible for Enlargement. This announcement represents for the European Union "another important step in the process of ending a conflict that has already claimed too many victims".
A positive step for Turkey
Recalling that the Union had “repeatedly encouraged all parties to work to bring back peace and prosperity ", the Commissioner and the High Representative announced that the EU fully supports this process and is " stood ready to help, including through the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance".
A truce in the violence?
The Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, imprisoned in Turkey for 14 years, had indeed sent Thursday (March 21), from his prison, a letter stating that: “ Now a new period begins. There will be no more weapons in our fight, there will be democratic politics. It is now time for the armed elements to withdraw beyond the borders ».
The day before, the deputies of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament had already welcomed "the direct political dialogue between the Turkish government and the former leader of the PKK, Abdullah Öcalan, dialogue (which) could open the way to a historic agreement resolving the Kurdish conflict peacefully and democratically".