SYRIA, — While Kurdistan Worker Party (PKK) extended its unilateral ceasefire for another month; Turkey is appealing to its neighbours assistance to liquidate the Kurdish resistance movement.
The Turkish Interior Minster Beshir Atalay flew to Syria to discuss the PKK issue with the Syrian officials.
Turkish side attended the meeting with 11 ministers, Interior Minister Beshir Atalay, National Security Minister Vecdi Gonul and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Davudoglu among them.
Syria was represented by Deputy President Assistant Hasan Turkmani, Minister of Foreign Arragis Velid Muallim and Interior Minister Said Sammur.
PKK and Kurdish Question are high on the both sides’ agenda. The sides will also evaluate cooperation agreements between Syria and Turkey. Turkish Interior Minister Atalay said they will demand Syria to take measures against Kurdish guerrillas of PKK in the country.
The first meeting between Syria and Turkey took place in Aleppo, Syria last year and two sides signed 51 cooperation agreements.
Kurdistan Worker Party (PKK) was founded in 1973 as the result of the continuous and systematic oppressions and the denial of the Kurdish nation by the occupying powers of Kurdistan. The PKK took up arm in 1984 since all the possible political and diplomatic means applied for 11 years in between 1973-84 proved exhausted. The PKK however declared its first unilateral ceasefire in 1993 since it believed the arm struggle had hit its targets. Since 1993 to date the PKK has declared 6 unilateral ceasefires in 6 different occasions and called upon Ankara to solve the Kurdish problem in a peaceful democratic way.
Despite the facts that the PKK has declared 6 unilateral ceasefires and also it sent peace groups in two different occasions yet the PKK is considered as a ‘terrorist’ organization by Ankara and the US. It also continues to be on the blacklist in EU despite the court ruling, which overturned the decision to place the Kurdish freedom movement on the EU’s terror list. “By labelling PKK as a terrorist organisation, the EU and the US are giving Turkey a green light to target its civilians. They gave the Turkish government a free hand to do what it will, a mother of Kurdish martyr said”.
It should be noted that after 1954, apart from the Korean War in1949-52 and the invasion of Cyprus in 1974, the Turkish Army operations have continued to be exclusively against the Kurds.