Kurdish militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have announced a conditional ceasefire against Turkish forces until September 20th, a PKK official said today.
"The PKK announces a conditional ceasefire," PKK official Bozan Tekin told reporters in the mountains near the Turkish border.
A lasting ceasefire was possible if Turkey stopped military operations, released some 1,700 political detainees and started a political peace process, the official said.
The announcement came days after Turkey said suspected PKK rebels had blown up a key pipeline in southeastern Turkey carrying Iraqi oil.
More than 40,000 people, mostly Kurds, have been killed since the PKK took up arms against Turkey in 1984 for an independent homeland. The rebels say they now want greater rights and autonomy for Turkey's estimated 15 million Kurds.
The militants called off a unilateral, 14-month ceasefire in June.
More than 100 military personnel have been killed since March, already exceeding the death toll throughout all of 2009.
Reuters