Turkish PM says Kurd rebels must give up arms

ISTANBUL, Sep 29 (Reuters) Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, speaking after a jailed rebel leader called for a ceasefire in a separatist conflict, said Kurdish militants had to give up their weapons, media reports said today.

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan issued a statement from his jail cell this week urging his guerrillas to implement an unconditional ceasefire as violence in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast increased.

Turkey's government and armed forces have ignored previous PKK unilateral ceasefires and Erdogan told Samanyolu TV late yesterday that ceasefires could only be declared between states.

''The expression 'ceasefire' is wrong. The terror group must give up its weapons. Our hope is that they will give up their weapons,'' CNN Turk quoted Erdogan as saying.

Analysts expected the PKK to heed the call by Mr Ocalan, who still exerts a strong influence over the militant group and is believed to have the backing of guerrilla leaders on the ground.

Mr Ocalan's call followed Ankara's warnings that it was ready to attack PKK bases in northern Iraq if US and Iraqi forces failed to act against the group. Turkey, the United States and the European Union consider the PKK a terrorist organisation.

Erdogan's comments were echoed by Turkey's new anti-terror coordinator retired General Edip Basar, who was recently appointed along with a retired US general as part of the country's fight against the PKK.

He said the conflict was not just military, but had economic, political and psychological dimensions.

''If it were possible to put an end to this matter by purely military means, it would already be at an end,'' he told CNN Turk in an interview.

RIGHTS GROUP PLEA Turkey's Human Rights Association said it welcomed Ocalan's ceasefire call and issued a similar plea. The country's main Kurdish party had made such an appeal earlier this month.

''We invite the PKK to announce a ceasefire in order to stop the bloodshed and to open the way for a democratic and political solution of the Kurdish problem,'' it said in a statement.

A shadowy Kurdish militant group linked to the PKK has claimed responsibility for a wave of bomb attacks across Turkey over the last year, heightening concerns about the conflict.

Clashes between rebels and the military have also increased.

Turkish troops killed two PKK rebels yesterday in a firefight on the Iraq border, local authorities said.

The PKK began its violent campaign to create a Kurdish homeland in the southeast in 1984 and more than 30,000 people have died in the conflict, which dwindled after Mr Ocalan was captured and convicted in 1999.

Fighting flared up again after the PKK called off a unilateral ceasefire in 2004. Violence has continued despite a temporary ceasefire last year.

REUTERS BDP KP2103