Kurdish rebels promote hawk as peace process falters
The change of leadership comes as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party is engaged in peace talks with Turkey.
Reuters , Wednesday 10 Jul 2013 – Kurdish rebels have named a veteran senior militant as co-head of their political wing, replacing a relative moderate and clouding the future of a peace process with the Turkish state that has been disrupted by renewed violence.
But the ousting of Murat Karayilan as deputy to jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in favour of veteran hawk Cemil Bayik and female militant Bese Hozat as joint heads of the political wing coincided with a faltering in the peace process in recent weeks.
Bayik, a long-time senior figure in the PKK’s military wing, and Hozat were promoted over Karayilan at a meeting of its executive council in northern Iraq at the start of July.
The PKK council pledged in a statement to pursue peace efforts “despite the negative stance of the government … We call on everyone to take part in the democratic struggle so that all can live together fraternally on the basis of a solution to the Kurdish problem and Turkey’s democratisation”.
The statement gave no reason for Karayilan’s removal. Turkish media said Karayilan had been named head of the PKK military wing but this could not immediately be confirmed. The decisions were taken at a six-day “general meeting” of the PKK umbrella group on northern Iraq’s Qandil mountain. Some 162 delegates from Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran took part.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/10/us-turkey-kurds-idUSBRE9690GS20130710