BBC News : - Kurdish rebels declare ceasefire - : 2005/08/19
news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/4166166.stm

The Kurdish rebel group fighting for autonomy in south-eastern Turkey, the PKK, has announced a one-month ceasefire.

The statement called on the armed wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to hold fire until 20 September.

The PKK said they would defend themselves if attacked.

• Last week Turkey's prime minister described the situation in the south-east as a political problem which needed settling through more democracy.

• The PKK statement on Friday said the ceasefire call was a response to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's speech.

"We will give time to Prime Minister Erdogan's well-intended efforts," said Zubeyir Aydar, head of the PKK's political wing Kongra-Gel.

The PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union had stepped up attacks in recent months after calling off a five-year unilateral ceasefire last summer.

More than 30,000 people may have been killed in the 20 year conflict.

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