PKK: Germany must press Turkey to halt operations

Turkish troops kill suspected rebels allegedly trying to plant roadside bomb

ANKARA (AP) – Kurdish rebels holding three German climbers hostage yesterday called on Berlin to press Turkey to halt military operations against the guerrilla group.

In a statement carried by the Firat news agency, the rebels also said a local rebel unit abducted the Germans on its own initiative as a “reaction” to Germany’s crackdown on the group. The rebel leadership was quoted by Firat as saying it would persuade the group to release the Germans, but that Turkey’s military operations against the rebels “must stop.” The Germans were kidnapped on July 9 while climbing Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, confirmed last week that the group was behind the kidnappings, and said they wanted the German government to “change its policy” toward them.

The PKK is banned in Germany, where authorities have arrested and tried suspected PKK members. Last month, the German government banned economic support for Roj TV, a station that Turkey says is a propaganda machine for the PKK.

“The Germans were taken hostage as a reaction by forces loyal” to the PKK leadership, Firat quoted the rebel group as saying.

“As long as (Germany’s) policies opposing the Kurdish people continue, it will be difficult to stop such reactions by Kurds,” the agency said.

“We will take measures to ensure that the tourists return to their families safe and sound. We will come into contact with the (local) unit. However, the Turkish state must stop its operations for the success of our initiative,” the agency quoted the PKK. Germany has urged the immediate release of its citizens and said it would not bow to blackmail.

Also yesterday, the state-run Anatolia news agency said troops shot and killed two suspected Kurdish rebels trying to plant a roadside bomb. The two were killed on a highway in the southeastern Tunceli province.