TRKNWS-L NEWS from Vic McDonald

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

     id VT12534; Sun, 06 Aug 1995 00:30:06 -0800


    YENI POLITIKA

    -- Kurds in Germany attend the funeral of woman hunger striker who died
last week.

    ZAMAN

    -- Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) rebel group has become headache for
Europe with drug-smuggling activities.

PKK "Parliament" Holds Secret Meeting in Vienna
    ANKARA, Aug 2 (Reuter) - A parliament-in-exile set up by Turkish Kurds
met in secret in Vienna last weekend, organisers said on Wednesday.

    The parliament, which Turkey says is controlled by armed Kurdish
extremists, met in the Austrian capital for one day on Sunday, its chairman
Yasar Kaya said in a statement released in Brussels.

    Turkey said it had received assurances from Vienna that Austrian
authorities had refused permission for such a meeting and did not recognise
the weekend's session.

    ``If a few people want to meet unofficially in a dark room behind closed
doors, well, what can we do?'' foreign ministry spokesman Nurettin Nurkan
told a news briefing.

    Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels fighting a separatist campaign in
southeast Turkey are represented in the parliament.

    The first session of the parliament in The Hague three months ago caused
a brief diplomatic row between Turkey and the Netherlands. Ankara suspended
Dutch military purchases.

    Turkish and European diplomats say the parliament's organisers plan to
hold sessions every three months in a different European Union member country
to spoil Turkey's treasured relations with the EU.

    Delegates at Sunday's session agreed to support a hunger strike began on
July 14 by thousands of PKK prisoners in Turkish jails and their supporters,
the statement said.

    Two people, including a Kurdish mother of five resident in Germany, have
so far died in the strike. The hunger strikers are demanding that the Turkish
government begin talks with the PKK to end the rebels' 11-year-old campaign
for independence or autonomy. More than 17,500 people have died in the
insurgency.


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 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)