Kurdish Militants Rule Out Unilateral Ceasefire in Turkey / MURAT KARAYILAN

By Ece Toksabay – 2015-09-18 ANKARA (Reuters) — A commander of the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) ruled out a unilateral ceasefire on Thursday and accused the Turkish government of pursuing war to gain more votes.

With an election looming in six weeks, Ankara says the militants must put down their weapons and return to their camps in northern Iraq before it will halt operations and restart peace talks. “A ceasefire can only be mutual,” PKK field commander Murat Karayilan told the Firat news agency, which is close to the group, in an interview. “Our experience teaches us that positive outcomes cannot be achieved through unilateral ceasefire.”On Wednesday, a Kurdish militant umbrella group said it was ready for talks supervised by a third party. Karayilan is based in the remote mountains of northern Iraq, from where he directs the PKK insurgency against Turkey.

“Even if we stop, AKP will not,” Karayilan said. “They will continue war as long as the war conditions are in their benefit. The conditions for a mutual ceasefire don’t seem possible before Nov. 1.” “This is the war of the palace,” KCK said, referring to Erdogan. “This war makes the (Kurdish and Turkish) people confront each other and causes a de facto division of the land.”

Editing by David Dolan and Kevin Liffey.