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Turkish PM urges PKK to end four-decade armed conflict

Xinhua, March 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called for an end to the 40-year armed conflict with the outlawed PKK on the occasion of the Nowruz Day celebration here on Saturday.

Davutoglu addressed the Spring Fest gathering in Istanbul, saying "I call on all to leave hatred aside and speak with the language of affection from now on."

"Let's bury hatred, violence, weapons in the ground forever, rather than bury our youth. Let's bury the pains of the mothers of the martyrs and those who lost their sons," Davutoglu said.

He said that the government's main goal with the solution process is to safeguard the unity of the country, brotherhood of its citizens, and comfort and peace in the country.

The Turkish government launched an initiative in early 2013 popularly known as the "solution process" to end the decades-old conflict with the outlawed PKK, which has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey as well as by the United States and the European Union.

Davutoglu's statement coincided with the Nowruz statement of the jailed head of the terrorist group PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, who said, "PKK must convene a congress to end the 40-year armed conflict against Turkey."

In the statement, Ocalan stressed the need for a "democratic solution" to Turkey's Kurdish problem, arguing that the "meaningless and merciless identity wars" were the result of "the neoliberal crisis caused by the imperialist capitalism and its local collaborators."

He said that the new era for Kurds "would be based on free, egalitarian, constitutional citizenship within the Republic of Turkey."

Nowruz is the March 21 festival that marks the beginning of spring and is celebrated mainly in Iran, Afghanistan, India, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Albania and Macedonia. Turkey's Kurdish population in particular see it as an important traditional and cultural event. Endit