Falkland தீவார் 1513 பேரில் 1510 ( 99.8% )பேர் பெரிய பிரித்தானியராக இருக்க பொதுவாக்கெடுப்பில் தீர்மானம்!

Falkland தீவார் 1513 பேரில் 1510 ( 99.8% )பேர் பெரிய பிரித்தானியராக இருக்க பொதுவாக்கெடுப்பில் தீர்மானம்!

Falkland Islanders Vote To Remain British
By Ian Woods, Senior Correspondent, in Stanley | Sky News – 1 hour 4 minutes ago.

David Cameron has demanded that Argentina respect the result of a referendum in the Falklands which saw an overwhelming majority back staying under British rule.

Just three voted 'No' in the ballot about remaining a British Overseas Territory, with 99.8% supporting the status quo.

International observers ratified the poll, in which 92% of eligible voters - or 1,513 people - took part, as "free and fair"

The Prime Minister warned that Argentina should take "careful note" of the result, which he said was the clearest possible message.

"The Falkland Islands may be thousands of miles away but they are British through and through. That is how they want to stay," he said.

"They want to remain British and that view should be respected by everybody, including by Argentina."

Nigel Haywood, governor of the Falkland Islands, added: "You don't get a much clearer expression of the people's self-determination than such a large turn out and such a large yes vote."

Argentina has yet to officially react to the referendum but had already dismissed the vote as illegal and "pointless".

It claims the people have no voice in deciding what is a dispute about sovereignty that should be resolved directly with Britain.

But delighted residents, who sang Land Of Hope And Glory and Rule Britannia after the result, insisted they must be heard.

One woman celebrating in Stanley told Sky News: "It sends such a strong message to the world that we've been here for a long time.

"We have the right to determine our own future. How long do you have to live in a country before you're allowed to call it your own?"

The referendum was organised after a deterioration in relations between Britain and Argentina, which claims the Falklands and in 1982 invaded the islands it calls Las Malvinas.

During the war to take back the islands, 255 British serviceman died as well as 655 Argentinians and three locals.

Relations appeared to warm for a period until Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner restated her country's claims of sovereignty and tried to raise the issue with David Cameron and the UN.

Although Buenos Aires dismissed the referendum as illegitimate and refused to talk to Falkland politicians, the islanders hope other countries in South and Central America will be more sympathetic.

As the counting took place in Stanley Town Hall, it quickly became clear the piles of "Yes" votes were growing steadily, while "No" votes were nowhere to be seen.

There was a delay in announcing the result because one vote went missing during the count but officials eventually decided it was not worth a recount for a single missing ballot.

The result means the Falklands will continue to run its own affairs, but shelter under the wing of the motherland when it comes to defence and foreign policy.

Falklands' legislators know the referendum will be dismissed by the Argentine government, but one of them, Dick Sawle had this message for President Kirchner.

"Listen, this is what we've said and it's time you respected our human rights," he said. "It's time you stopped harassing us; it's time you stopped your very aggressive stance towards us.

"We'll be taking that message to various governments and saying

''look, self determination is a fundamental human right, you can't ignore it'. This is what the people of the Falklands have said. Do you have a problem with that?"
 

 Why Do you have problem with this?"

US tables Sri Lankan resolution with India line

US tables Sri Lankan resolution with India line

By P K Balachandran | ENS - COLOMBO
09th March 2013 07:55 AM

Activists burn an effigy and portraits of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse during a protest in New Delhi | AP/File

The US resolution on Sri Lanka, which was presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva on Friday, has incorporated India’s suggestion that the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) take the island government into confidence while probing cases of atrocities.

The resolution seeks to ensure that “special procedure mandate holders” tasked to look into human rights violations, work only in consultation with and with the concurrence of Colombo.

The provision for taking the Lankan government into confidence was part of the US resolution of March 2012 as well. It had been included at India’s insistence as New Delhi refused an intrusive resolution which could put Sri Lanka’s sovereignty into question.

The US resolution of 2013 said that neither the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission nor the National Action Plan, had “adequately” addressed allegations of rights violations.

It expressed “concern” at “reports” of human rights violations, including enforced disappearances; extra-judicial killings; torture; and the violation of the right to freedom of expression; association and peaceful assembly. The resolution points out intimidation of civil society and journalists and threats to judicial independence and rule of law.

The resolution has categorically stated that the US  expected “unfettered access” to the UN Special Rapporteurs looking into areas such as judicial independence; human rights defenders; freedom of expression; freedom of association and assembly; extra-judicial, summary and arbitrary executions; minority issues; enforced and involuntary disappearances and discrimination against women.

The US resolution made a strong pitch for the devolution of power to Tamils. It has also called for an independent international probe into violations of international human rights and humanitarian laws during Eelam War IV. This is, however, unlikely to be accepted by the Mahinda Rajapaksa government as it believes that any such investigation will violate the nation’s sovereignty.

Source: The New Indian Express

தமிழீழத்துக்கு பொதுவாக்கெடுப்புக் கோரி தமிழகத்தில் மாணவர் போராட்டம்!

Chennai college students on indefinite hunger-strike condemn US resolution
[TamilNet, Friday, 08 March 2013, 18:24 GMT]
Eight students of Loyola College, Chennai, who have begun an indefinite hunger-strike on Friday calling for a UN referendum among the Eezham Tamils, have also condemned the pro-LLRC US resolution to be tabled at Geneva, accusing it of bailing out genocidal Sri Lanka. Speaking to TamilNet, Mr. Britto, one of the protesting students, outlining the demands of the hunger-strike, said that the current US resolution was a farce that would completely cover-up the genocide of the Eezham Tamils and strengthen the hands of the perpetrators. The protestors also told TamilNet if their hunger-strike was not paid heed to by the Central Government, they would undertake a Civil Disobedience campaign throughout Tamil Nadu to boycott paying taxes to the Indian state that is endorsing the genocide of their brethren.
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=36109

பெண்களுக்கு முழு சுதந்திரம் வாங்கிக் கொடுக்காத வரையிலும் பாட்டாளி வர்க்கம் முழு விடுதலை அடைய முடியாது.

 

 

சிறப்புக் கட்டுரை

 

உழைக்கும் பெண்களுக்கு

தோழர் - லெனின்

தோழர்களே, மாஸ்கோ சோவியத்துக்கு நடைபெற்ற தேர்தல்கள்  தொழிலாளி
வர்க்கத்தினரிடம் கம்யூனிஸ்ட் கட்சி பலமடைந்து கொண்டிருப்பதை எடுத்துக் காட்டுகின்றன.

உழைக்கும் பெண்கள் தேர்தல்களில் இன்னும் அதிகமாக பங்கு வகிக்க வேண்டும். ஆண்களோடு ஒப்பிடுகின்ற பொழுது பெண்களைத் தாழ்வான நிலையில் வைத்த பழைய, வெறுக்கத்தக்க, முதலாளித்துவ சட்டங்கள் அனைத்தையும் முழுமையாக ஒழித்திருக்கும் அரசாங்கம், உலகத்திலேயே முதல் ஆட்சி, ஒரே ஒரு ஆட்சி சோவியத் அரசே.

இந்த சட்டங்கள் ஆண்களுக்கு விக்ஷேடமான உரிமைகளைக் கொடுத்தன; அதற்கு உதாரணமாகத் திருமண உரிமைகளையும் குழந்தைகளைப் பற்றிய உரிமைகளையும் கூறலாம். குடும்பச் சட்டங்களில் சொத்துக்களைப் பற்றிய பிரச்சனைகளில் ஆண்களுக்கிருந்த விக்ஷேடமான சலுகைகள் எல்லாவற்றையும் உலகத்தில் ஒழித்திருக்கும் முதல் அரசு, ஒரே அரசு உழைக்கும் மக்களின் அரசாகிய சோவியத் அரசுதான். இந்த சலுகைகளை எல்லா முதலாளித்துவ குடியரசுகளும்---அவற்றில் மிக அதிகமான ஜனநாயகத்தன்மை கொண்டவை கூட---- இன்னும் பாதுகாத்து வருகின்றன.

 எங்கே நிலவுடைமையாளர்களும் முதலாளிகளும் வணிகர்களும் இருக்கிறார்களோ அங்கே சட்டத்தின்படி பெண்கள் ஆண்களுக்குச் சமமானவர்களாக இருக்க முடியாது.

 எங்கே நிலவுடைமையாளர்களும் முதலாளிகளும் வணிகர்களும் இல்லையோ, எங்கே உழைக்கும் மக்களின் அரசாங்கம் இந்த சுரண்டல்காரர்கள் இல்லாத புதிய வாழ்க்கையை நிர்மாணித்துக் கொண்டிருக்கிறதோ அங்கே சட்டப்படி ஆண்களும் பெண்களும் சமமாக இருக்கிறார்கள்.

ஆனால் அது மட்டும் போதுமானதல்ல.

சட்டப்படி சமம் என்று சொல்லிவிட்டால் அது நடைமுறையிலும் சமத்துவம் என்றிருப்பது அவசியமல்ல.

ஒரு உழைக்கும் பெண் ஒரு உழைக்கும் ஆணுக்குச் சமமாக---- சட்டத்தில் மட்டுமல்லாமல் நடைமுறையிலும்----- இருக்க வேண்டும் என்று நாம் விரும்புகிறோம். அதற்கு உழைக்கும் பெண் சமூகமயமாக்கப்பட்ட நிறுவனங்களிலும் அரசாங்க நிர்வாகத்திலும் மென்மேலும் அதிகரிக்கும் பாத்திரத்தை வகிக்க வேண்டும்.

நிர்வாகத்தில் பங்கு கொள்வதன் மூலம் பெண்கள் வேகமாக அறிவைப் பெறுவார்கள்;  ஆண்களுக்குச் சமமாக முன்னேற்றமடைவார்கள்.

கம்யூனிஸ்ட் பெண்கள், கட்சியில் இல்லாத பெண்கள் ஆகிய இரு தரப்பிலிருந்தும் அதிகமான உழைக்கும் பெண்களை சோவியத்துக்குத்  தேர்ந்தெடுங்கள். தங்களுடைய வேலைகளை அறிவோடும் பொறுப்புணர்ச்சியோடும் செய்யக் கூடிய நேர்மையான உழைக்கும் பெண்களாக இருந்தால்---- அவர்கள் கட்சியின் உறுப்பினராக இல்லா விட்டாலும்--- அவர்களை மாஸ்கோ சோவியத்துக்குத் தேர்ந்தெடுங்கள்!

 மாஸ்கோ சோவியத்துக்கு இன்னும் அதிகமான உழைக்கும் பெண்களை அனுப்புங்கள் ! பெண்களை அவமானப்படுத்திய பழைய முதலாளித்துவ முறையை, பழைய சமத்துவமற்ற நிலையை எதிர்த்து வெற்றிக்காகப் போராடுவதற்கு மாஸ்கோ பாட்டாளி வர்க்கம் எல்லாவற்றையும்  செய்யத்
தயார், எல்லாவற்றையும் செய்து கொண்டிருக்கிறோம் என்று காட்டட்டும் !

பெண்களுக்கு முழு சுதந்திரம் வாங்கிக் கொடுக்காத வரையிலும் பாட்டாளி வர்க்கம் முழு விடுதலை அடைய முடியாது.

1920,பிப்ரவரி 21     நூல் திரட்டு தொகுதி 40,  பக்கங்கள் 157-158
சோவியத் ஆட்சியும் சமுதாயத்தில் பெண்கள் நிலையும்  21-22

தமிழர்க்கு வேண்டும் தமிழீழம்! ஜெனீவாவில் ``நீதி கேட்டு`` தமிழர் முழக்கம்!

* எமக்கு - (தமிழர்க்கு) வேண்டும் தமிழீழம்!
 ** எமது - (தமிழர்) தலைவர் பிரபாகரன்!!
 *** ராஜபக்சே போர்க்குற்றவாளி!!!

ஜெனிவா முத்துக்குமாரன் முன்றலில் தமிழர்

முழக்கம்.

Portuguese march against austerity, want government out

உலக மறுபங்கீடே,  சமகால  சர்வதேச அரசியலை  இயக்கும் விதி. ENB

Portuguese march against austerity, want government out

By Andrei Khalip
LISBON | Sat Mar 2, 2013 2:37pm EST

LISBON (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Portuguese poured into the streets of Lisbon and other cities on Saturday to demand an end to austerity dictated by an international bailout and the resignation of the center-right government.

The rallies, which follow the introduction of the biggest tax hikes in living memory, mark the greatest public show of discontent since demonstrations last September forced the government to adjust some of its austerity measures.

More than 200,000 protesters in Lisbon packed the vast imperial Praca do Comercio square, home to the Finance Ministry, and surrounding streets, chanting: "It's time for the government to go".
Organizers said as many as 500,000 people took part in the rallies around Lisbon, which would make the protest bigger than in September, but the numbers could not be independently confirmed. Police, as is customary, would not provide estimates.

Many carried banners with slogans such as "Austerity kills" and "Screw the troika, power to the people!", aimed at the so-called troika of lenders from the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.

"Grandola", the signature tune of the 1974 "Carnation revolution" that overthrew the fascist dictatorship of Antonio Salazar after the army rebelled, reverberated through the crowds in Lisbon, which has a population of about 3 million, and elsewhere where protesters gathered. Many cried as they sang.

Protesters have used the song increasingly in the past month to interrupt government ministers speaking at public events.

"We are in a new dictatorship. Everything that the revolution achieved is being destroyed," said one elderly protester in Lisbon who did not give his name.

The rallies, which coincide with a quarterly review by the EU/IMF bailout inspectors, are the first large protests since the government acknowledged last month the economic downturn this year will be nearly double its earlier predictions.

The forecast 1.9 percent decline will further deepen the worst recession since the 1970s, already in its third year.

Tax hikes and spending cuts ordered by the terms of the 78 billion euro ($101.3 billion) bailout agreed in mid-2011 have slashed consumer demand and pushed unemployment to record levels of 17 percent, causing thousands of small businesses to go bust.

"This government has left the people on bread and water, selling off state assets for peanuts to pay back debts that were contracted by corrupt politicians to benefit bankers," said Fabio Carvalho, a movie-maker, protesting on Lisbon's main Liberdade thoroughfare.

"If not today, things have to change tomorrow and we need to remain in the streets for the government to fall."

The rallies were organized in Lisbon, Porto and several dozen other cities via the Internet by a group of activists known as Que Se Lixe a Troika, or Screw the Troika.

Veronica Pereira, an unemployed mother who says she has no means to send her daughter to college said: "Our people have the habit of letting things happen, but I think this is changing radically now. We need to protest to change things," she said.

Echoing her words, Bob Dylan's 1964 anthem "The Times They are a-Changin'" blared from a car with loudspeakers.

A woman gestures during a march against government austerity policies in Lisbon March 2, 2013.
Credit: REUTERS/Jose Manuel Ribeiro

PATIENCE RUNNING OUT

Portugal had shown a tolerance for austerity compared with countries like Greece with its frequent protests and strikes, but opposition has begun to rise in recent weeks as the economic outlook has worsened. Protests have largely been peaceful, but one Lisbon rally in November ended in clashes with police.

On Friday, the main opposition Socialists hardened their stance on the bailout, demanding an end to the austerity which they said pushed the country into a recessive spiral - the position they outlined to visiting EU/IMF bailout inspectors.

Socialist leader Antonio Jose Seguro said he felt the lenders were more open to his proposals of a growth-oriented strategy but doubted they would act soon enough.

The government's strategy, that has been praised by Brussels, is to cut the budget deficit as quickly as possible in order to exit the bailout as scheduled in the middle of 2014 after regaining full access to debt markets.

The government says it is likely to request an extra year to meet budget goals under the bailout, but political opponents and some business leaders say much more time is needed.

(Additional reporting by Miguel Pereira; Editing by Stephen Powell)
குறிப்பு : செய்தி மூலம் REUTERS விபரண இணைப்பு ENB
Contact: eelamnewsbulletin@googlemail.com

Obama formally orders "deeply destructive" cuts

A poster replicating a notice of job termination for 750,000 Americans due to the impending
sequestration, is pictured during a news conference by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (not
pictured) Credit: REUTERS/Jason Reed

*U.S Government agencies will now begin to hack a total of $85 billion from their budgets between Saturday and

October 1.

 

*At the heart of Washington's persistent fiscal crises is disagreement over how to slash the budget deficit and the $16 trillion national debt, bloated over the years by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and government stimulus for the ailing economy.



* The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office predicts 750,000 jobs could be lost in 2013, and federal employees throughout the country are looking to trim their own costs.

Obama formally orders "deeply destructive" cuts, blames Congress

By Richard Cowan and Alistair Bell
WASHINGTON | Sat Mar 2, 2013 1:04am EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama formally ordered broad cuts in government spending on Friday night after he and congressional Republicans failed to reach a deal to avert automatic reductions that could dampen economic growth and curb military readiness.

As the United States staggered into another fiscal crisis, the White House predicted that the spending cuts triggered by the inability of Obama and lawmakers to forge a broader deficit-reduction agreement would be "deeply destructive" to the nation's economic and national security.

"Not everyone will feel the pain of these cuts right away. The pain though will be real. Beginning this week, many middle-class families will have their lives disrupted in significant ways," Obama told journalists after his meeting with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders.

Late on Friday, Obama signed an order that put in effect the across-the-board government spending cuts known as "sequestration." Government agencies will now begin to hack a total of $85 billion from their budgets between Saturday and October 1.

Half of the cuts will fall on the Pentagon. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the reductions put at risk "all of our missions.

Congress and Obama could still halt the cuts in the weeks to come, but neither side has expressed any confidence they will do so. Both Democrats and Republicans set the automatic cuts in motion during feverish deficit-reduction efforts in August 2011.

MARKETS SHRUG OFF CRISIS

Friday's events marked the first budget showdown in Washington of many in the past decade that was not somehow resolved at the last minute - often under pressure from rattled financial markets. Markets in New York shrugged off the stalemate in Washington on Friday as they have for months.
Democrats predicted the cuts could soon cause air-traffic delays, meat shortages as food safety inspections slow down, losses to thousands of federal contractors and damage to local economies across the country, particularly in the hardest-hit regions around military installations.

At the heart of Washington's persistent fiscal crises is disagreement over how to slash the budget deficit and the $16 trillion national debt, bloated over the years by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and government stimulus for the ailing economy.

Obama wants to close the fiscal gap with spending cuts and tax hikes. Republicans do not want to concede again on taxes after doing so in negotiations over the "fiscal cliff" at the New Year.
Public outrage, if it materializes, would be the most likely prod for a resolution as the impact of the spending cuts starts to be felt in the coming weeks and months.

As a percentage of total government spending every year, $3.7 trillion, the actual spending reductions are small. But because safety-net programs such as Social Security and Medicare will be untouched, the brunt falls mostly on federal government employees rather than direct recipients of aid.

The U.S. government is the nation's largest employer, with a workforce of roughly 2.7 million civilians spread across the country. If the cuts stay in place, more than 800,000 of those workers could see reduced work days and smaller paychecks between now and September.

Furlough notices warning employees and their unions started to go out earlier this week and the pace picked up on Friday after it became clear that talks at the White House between Obama and congressional leaders would be fruitless.

While the International Monetary Fund warned that the belt-tightening could slow U.S. economic growth by at least 0.5 of a percentage point this year, that is not a huge drag on an economy that is picking up steam.

'THE SPENDING PROBLEM'

Many Republicans accuse the Obama administration of overstating the effects of the cuts in order to pressure them into agreeing to a solution to the White House's liking.

A deal proved elusive as Obama met at the White House with House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, as well as the top two Democrats in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.

"The discussion about revenue, in my view, is over. It's about taking on the spending problem," Boehner said after the meeting.

Asked why he did not just refuse to let congressional leaders leave the room until they had a deal, Obama told reporters: "I am not a dictator. I'm the president. So, ultimately, if Mitch McConnell or John Boehner say, 'We need to go to catch a plane,' I can't have Secret Service block the doorway, right?"

The across-the-board cutbacks were mandated by a deficit reduction law, structured to be so disruptive that Congress would ultimately replace them with more targeted savings. But partisan gridlock has prevented agreement on where to save.

The White House budget office sent a report to Congress detailing the spending cuts. Some 115,000 employees of the Department of Justice - including prosecutors and the FBI - were among the first to get the official word of furloughs.

The government also sent letters to several state governors advising them of cuts to services like the Head Start education program in California and military facilities in Virginia.

Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty expressed rare public frustration with the United States for lurching from crisis to crisis.

One reason for the inaction in Washington is that both parties still hope the other will either be blamed by voters for the cuts or cave in before the worst effects predicted by Democrats come into effect.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday showed 28 percent of Americans blamed congressional Republicans for the sequestration mess, 18 percent thought Obama was responsible and 4 percent blamed congressional Democrats. Thirty-seven percent blamed them all, according the online poll.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office predicts 750,000 jobs could be lost in 2013, and federal employees throughout the country are looking to trim their own costs.

"The kids won't go to the dentist, the kids might not go to the doctor, we won't be spending money in local restaurants, local movie theaters," said Paul O'Connor, president of the Metal Trades Council, which represents 2,500 workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.

After weeks of White House warnings about the cuts causing disruption, Obama acknowledged it might be a while before effects fully kicked in. "We will get through this. This is not going to be an apocalypse," Obama said.

In the absence of any deal at all, the Pentagon will be forced to slice 13 percent of its budget between now and September 30.

In his first Pentagon news conference since he was sworn in on Wednesday, Hagel struck a more moderate tone than many other defense officials who have said the spending reductions would be devastating or could turn the U.S. military into a second-rate power.

"America ... has the best fighting force, the most capable fighting force, the most powerful fighting force in the world," he said. "The management of this institution, starting with the Joint Chiefs, are not going to allow this capacity to erode."

Most non-defense programs, from NASA space exploration to federally backed education and law enforcement, face a 9 percent reduction.

Moving to head off a new budget crisis later this month, Boehner said the Republican-led House would move a "continuing resolution" to fund government through the rest of the fiscal year, thus hopefully averting a government shutdown.

(Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Roberta Rampton, Deborah Zabarenko and Jeff Mason in Washington and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by Peter Cooney and Will Dunham) 

Balachandren Portrait: பாலச்சந்திரனின் பிரதிவிம்ப ஓவியம்

மதிவதனி பிரபாகரன் பாலச்சந்திரன் - அகவை 12 -  ஓவியம்:பாரதிராஜா

GEELANI RELEASED

GEELANI RELEASED

To Announce Future Strategy Soon
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, Feb 27: After being put under house arrest here for nearly three weeks, Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani was released as Delhi Police withdrew its personnel from his South Delhi home this evening.

Describing his detention as “illegal” and an act of “high-handedness” on the part of the Centre and Jammu and Kashmir government, 83-year-old Geelani said he will be chalking his future strategy in a couple of days including a decision on his return to Kashmir Valley.

Geelani, who has a two-room flat near Malviya Nagar, was placed under house arrest on the morning of February nine, the day when Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was hanged in Tihar jail.

“The police withdrew at 7 PM this evening,” Geelani said. Along with Geelani, another separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was also kept under house arrest in Delhi but he was released last week.
Geelani claimed that police personnel, both men and women, had at one stage camped inside his flat for nearly two days.

Both the Hurriyat factions led by Geelani and Farooq had given a strike call in protest against the execution of Afzal.

Geelani had termed the execution of Afzal as "unfortunate" and claimed that Afzal was not involved in the 2001 Parliament attack.

Kuddish leader 'outlines' Turkey peace plan

Kurdish leader 'outlines' Turkey peace plan

Turkish official says Abdullah Ocalan set to ask PKK fighters to declare truce by March 21 and lay down arms by August.

Last Modified: 27 Feb 2013 19:28
The leader of a Kurdish armed group imprisoned by Turkey is set to call for a long-sought ceasefire next month as part of a renewed push for peace with the Turkish government, according to officials.

Abdullah Ocalan, head of the PKK, is currently serving a life sentence on an island prison off Istanbul where visitors are seldom allowed and only under the surveillance of Turkish agents.

"[The PKK] will declare at the very least a ceasefire by Newroz [March 21, the Kurdish New Year] and lay down arms by July-August, after which departure from the country will be discussed," Bulent Arinc, Turkey's deputy prime minister, said in an interview on Turkish TV on Monday.

Arinc was quoting a 20-page letter written by Ocalan, which outlined his views on a possible solution for the nearly three-decade-long conflict between the PKK and Turkish security forces that has cost 45,000 lives, mostly Kurdish.

Turkey's secret services resumed negotiations with Ocalan in December with the ultimate aim of ending the PKK's fight for autonomy.

Ocalan's letter was addressed to PKK members and the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), according to Nazmi Gur, a BDP legislator.

'Draft solution'

Gur told AFP news agency that Ocalan was proposing a "draft solution" in the letter and there would be more discussion and feedback before reaching a final decision.

"We, all components of the Kurdish movement, will be standing behind that final decision Ocalan will give on that day," Gur said referring to March 21.

Both sides in the conflict have set out conditions they say would signal good faith and commitment to long-lasting peace.

PKK is asking for the release of hundreds, possibly thousands, of Kurdish activists and politicians kept in detention on charges of links to the group.

Turkey in return insists "terrorists" need to withdraw from Turkish territory before the peace process can effectively begin, and has promised not to attack rebels wishing to leave the country.
Source: Al Jazeera And Agencies

The Turkish government and jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan have agreed on a roadmap

January 9, 2013
ANKARA,— The Turkish government and jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan have agreed on a roadmap to end a three-decade-old insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives, Turkish media reported Wednesday.

The deal was reached during a new round of talks between Ankara and Ocalan and aims to have the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) lay down arms in March, private news network NTV and Radikal newspaper reported.

An initial cessation of hostilities was to evolve into a fully-fledged ceasefire agreement over the following months, they said, without revealing their sources for the reported breakthrough.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government recently revealed that the intelligence services had for weeks been talking to Ocalan, who has been held on the island prison of Imrali south of Istanbul since his capture in 1999.

The government is expected to reciprocate the ceasefire by granting wider rights to Turkey's Kurdish minority, whose population is estimated at up to 15 million in the 75-million nation, according to unofficial figures.
 
  The rebels also want the release of hundreds of Kurdish activists held in prisons over links to the PKK as well as the recognition of Kurdish identity in Turkey's new constitution, according to media sources.

But Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) warned the talks were not at the stage of fully-fledged ceasefire negotiations,www.ekurd.net arguing Ocalan would have to be freed first and given a chance to consult the grassroots.

"The conditions between the parties are just not equal," BDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtas told fellow lawmakers on Tuesday. "And by that, no, I do not mean Erdogan going into Imrali," he said.
Officials have not confirmed the details of the roadmap published in the media.

Hopes of a breakthrough on the Kurdish issue were heightened when two Kurdish lawmakers were allowed to visit Ocalan last week for the first time.

Previous talks floundered after the PKK leadership demanded the release of Ocalan.

Since it was established in 1984, the PKK has been fighting the Turkish state, which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, to establish a Kurdish state in the south east of the country. By 2012, more than 45,000 people have since been killed.

But now its aim is the creation an autonomous region and more cultural rights for ethnic Kurds who constitute the greatest minority in Turkey.  A large Turkey's Kurdish community, numbering to 25 million, openly sympathise with PKK rebels.

Abdullah Öcalan, who founded the PKK in 1974, has a high symbolic value for most Kurds in Turkey and worldwide.

The PKK wants constitutional recognition for the Kurds, regional self-governance and Kurdish-language education in schools.

The PKK has nearly 50 thousand trained fighters on fronts and streets war, as they are deployed within the Kurdish areas near the common border of Turkey with both Iraq and Syria.

PKK's demands included releasing PKK detainees, lifting the ban on education in Kurdish, paving the way for an autonomous democrat Kurdish system within Turkey, reducing pressure on the detained PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, stopping military action against the Kurdish party and recomposing the Turkish constitution.

The rebels have scaled back their demands for more political autonomy for Turkey's ethnic Kurds.
Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish language and private Kurdish language courses with the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish politicians say the measures fall short of their expectations.

The PKK is considered as 'terrorist' organization by Ankara, U.S., the PKK continues to be on the blacklist list in EU despite court ruling which overturned a decision to place the Kurdish rebel group PKK and its political wing on the European Union's terror list.
Source: Ekurd.net