Turkish Rallies over Detained ‘Peace’ Group

Agence France Presse is reporting that thousands of Kurds rallied in Diyarbakir as 34 members, including eight Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) rebels, of a “peace group” arrived from Iraq to show support for Ankara’s plans to end the 25-year Kurdish conflict. The group surrendered to police and were taken into custody for questioning immediately after crossing the border. According to the article,  ”Turkish officials have said the group’s members were welcome if they were in Turkey to turn themselves in, but senior PKK commander Murat Karayilan told the pro-Kurdish Firat agency on Sunday that the group’s aim was not surrender.”  Demonstrations also took place in Batman and Mardin in the southeast and the eastern cities of Tunceli, Van and Mus, as well as Izmir and Istanbul, both of which have sizeable Kurdish communities.

The AP is now reporting that the Turkish government has released the eight PKK members pending future trials for their membership in the PKK.  The fate of these men will likely influence further moves towards reconciliation.