Seven Kurdish rebels surrender to Turkish security forces

Seven Kurdish rebels surrender to Turkish security forces
Seven members of the Turkish outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) have turned themselves in to Turkish security forces in the southeastern province of Sirnak, Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman reported Wednesday at its official website.

Seven members, including a woman, entered Turkey from Iraq through the Habur border gate in the Silopi district of Sirnak province and surrendered to Turkish soldiers after leaving a PKK camp in northern Iraq, said the report.

After being questioned by prosecutors, they were transferred to the Diyarbakir Specially Authorized Prosecutor's Office Wednesday.

The surrender came after a call by Turkish President Abdullah Gul for PKK members who are Turkish citizens to lay down arms and return to their families, benefiting form a law that guarantees amnesty, according to the report.

Listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, the PKK took up arms in 1984 to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. More than 40,000 people have been killed in conflicts involving the PKK during over the past two decades.

Editor: Bi Mingxin

English.news.cn   2011-11-16 19:52:21 FeedbackPrintRSS
ANKARA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua)