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Group of PKK members reportedly to lay down arms as symbolic gesture

(Xinhua)

08:51, January 30, 2013

ANKARA, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- As part of the Turkish government's recent "peace process" to end the three-decade conflict with the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), a group of 100 PKK members will withdraw from Turkish territories while at the same time laying down their arms in a symbolic move, Hurriyet daily reported Tuesday.

The move is expected to take place in spring as part of " confidence building actions toward the process," according to the report.

The action plan is shaped after Turkish intelligence officials and prominent PKK leaders, among them Sabri Ok from the European wing of the group, reportedly had initial talks over the recent process.

Meanwhile, the Taraf daily said the next meeting between Turkish officials and the PKK leaders is slated for Arbil in northern Iraq, where PKK hideouts are located.

The Turkish government announced in December 2012 that it had launched fresh talks with the imprisoned leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, to broker a deal for disarming the group.

As part of this new "peace process," Ocalan also met with two prominent Kurdish politicians in early January in Imrali Island where he is serving his life sentence. He is expected to meet with other Kurdish politicians from Peace and Development Party (BDP) in the upcoming days.

According to the planned calendar, the PKK will reportedly declare "no-action" in February after an "official call" from Ocalan.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, took up arms in 1984 in an attempt to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. Since then, over 35,000 people have been killed in conflicts involving the group.

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