Kurdish rebel leader in peace offer to Turkey

Abdullah Ocalan is serving a life sentence for leading a guerilla-style revolt Jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan has sent peace proposals to Ankara aimed at ending 26 years of deadly conflict, a senior militant was quoted as saying Monday. Ocalan, who retains his influence despite being behind bars, submitted three "protocols" to officials who met him in prison last month, Murat Karayilan, a top commander of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), said in an interview with the Milliyet daily.
The papers call for constitutional reforms to grant the Kurds self-governance and Kurdish-language education as well as "conditions for total exclusion of violence and for disarmament on the basis of mutual forgiveness," Karayilan said.
Ocalan also asked to be allowed to meet with anyone in prison "so that the process can function properly," he added.
"The state delegation that met with Ocalan a month ago did not reject those protocols. They said they would take them up with the state and the government... We are awaiting a response," Karayilan said.
Ankara has previously frowned upon Kurdish demands for autonomy.
Officials have held sporadic contacts with Ocalan on the prison island of Imrali, where he has been serving a life sentence since 1999, but Ankara has been mum on their content.
Talking to the PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, carry the risk of a nationalist backlash in a country where many see the group as a public enemy number one and hold it responsible for the some 45,000 deaths that the conflict has caused on both sides.
"2011 should be the year of settlement. Otherwise, we will resist. We are at a very critical juncture," Karayilan told Milliyet.
He spoke of a "window of opportunity" following the June 12 elections in which 36 candidates advocating Kurdish autonomy won parliamentary seats, a record for Kurdish nationalists.
He lamented however "a heavy blow to anticipations" when the authorities last week stripped one of the deputies of his seat and refused to release five others who were elected from jail, where they await trial for links to the PKK.
Eager to cajole the PKK into laying down arms, Ankara announced a "Kurdish opening" in 2009, which saw several militants walk free after surrendering to the authorities in a gesture of good will.
The reform initiative however faltered amid nationalist ire and continued violence.
Karayilan spoke to Milliyet in the Qandil mountains of neighbouring northern Iraq, a Kurdish-run region where the PKK has long taken refuge.