In what is being heralded by Turkey as a major breakthrough in its conflict with the Kurdish PKK militia, a group of eightrebels and 26 Kurdish refugees have crossed over from bases inIraq and turned themselves in to Turkish authorities. The symbolic move comes in response to agovernment initiative to end a long running conflict that has claimed40,000 lives.
Turkish TV channels interrupted their broadcasts to announce the "surrender."
Thegroup of 34 men and women smiled as they entered Turkish territory. They crossed over from the Iraqi Kurdish region, where most of theseveral thousand PKK rebels are reportedly based.
Themilitants have been fighting the Turkish state for greater Kurdishrights since 1984. Thousands of kurds on both sides of the borderassembled in support of the rebels.
A PKK official described itas a goodwill gesture to the Turkish government in response to itsDemocratization Initiative. The initiative aims to bring an end to theconflict between the Turkish state and the PKK.
A Turkish government advisor, Ibrahim Kalin, says it is an important step.
"Itis a very good sign. It is one first fruits of the democraticinitiative, and we hoping that it this will be followed, to speed upthe process so that we can move ahead other issues also culturalpolitical as far the democratic initiative is concerned," Kalin said.
Thegovernment launched its reconciliation initiative earlier this year andhas engaged in wide-ranging talks that have included the country's mainKurdish party, the Democratic Society Party.
Prime Minister Erdogan has said he is considering far-reaching steps to resolve the conflict.
Thisyear, Turkish state TV launched a ground breaking channel in Kurdish, alanguage that was once banned by the government. The government hasalso reached out to the leadership of the neighboring semi-autonomousIraqi Kurdish regional government. Until recently, Iraqi Kurds wereaccused by Ankara of working with the PKK.
External affairsspokesman for the ruling Kurdish Democratic Party, Safeen Dizayee,welcomes the surrender, but says the Turkish government must respondadequately.
"So far its anopen ended project. There is not a solid idea, or at least publiclythere is no solid project. We hope ideas can develop and can beformulated into a state policy. If you have something solid somethingmore tangible which can guarantee an end to this violence, somethingthat should be welcomed by all parties," Dizayee said.
Butthe government is also facing strong criticism from the powerfulnationalist opposition, which accuses it of betraying the country, as well as those who died fighting the rebels. Analysts say the surrender of thePKK rebels has given momentum to the government's drive to resolve theconflict. But they add, the government now faces pressure from the PKKand much of its Kurdish population to respond by turning its words ofpeace into concrete steps.