A Negotiated End To The Turkish-Kurdish War?

Anthony Loyd, Qandil Mountains

PKK Leader Offers Turkey An Olive Branch To End War -- Times Online

The Kurdish leader proposing to end a 25-year-long conflict with Turkey that has cost 30,000 lives believes his peace offer is a once in a generation opportunity that must be grasped by both sides.

In a unilateral gesture that has prompted a re-examination of strategy in Ankara, Baghdad and Washington, the guerrilla leadership of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has extended an olive branch, offering to drop its aim of an independent state in return for a negotiated settlement to end its war with Turkey.

“We are at a turning point,” said Murad Karayilan, acting head of the PKK, in an interview with The Times at a secret location in the mountains of northern Iraq.

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My Comment: The PKK is just one of a few groups that are fighting for Kurdish independence. If a political accommodation can be found, this will go a long way to bring peace in the region.