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34 PKK members surrender to Turkish authorities

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-20 00:43

ANKARA: A group of members of the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) coming from the north of Iraq surrendered to Turkish gendarmerie on Monday, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

The group, consisting of 34 PKK members, surrendered to Turkish authorities at the Habur border gate between Turkey and Iraq, according to the report.

The surrender comes as a result of Turkish government's efforts to launch a "democratic initiative" which is expected to be unveiled soon, according to the report.

Eight of the group members came from Mount Qandil where the PKK has a camp, and the rest came from Mahmour, a refugee camp in the north of Iraq, officials were quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, a large group of lawyers from the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakir, Mardin and Sirnak arrived in Habur to defend the PKK members, said the report.

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"We do not think that they will be arrested. Those who came from Mahmour left Turkey due to security measures. They can only be charged with violation of the law on passport possession," one of the lawyers said.

Established in 1978, the PKK took up arms in 1984 to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. Some 40,000 people have been killed in conflicts over the past two decades.

Turkey's military forces have taken tougher actions against the PKK after the country's legislature gave the government mandate to launch cross-border operations against the rebels in northern Iraq in October 2007 and extended it in 2008.

It is estimated that there are a total of 5,000 PKK militants, the majority of whom are holed up in northern Iraq where the PKK headquarters is situated.