President of Iraq, Celal Talabani commented on the plans for Kurdish Conference during his interviews in Istanbul, where he attends the World Water Forum meetings.
Kurdish groups "from around the world" will participate in the conference due to be held in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish Autonomous Government in Northern Iraq, in April or May, Talabani told Osman Sert from CNNTurk.
A call for disarmament will be made to the PKK in the conference, according to Talabani. "This is not a period for armed struggle," he said. Yet, Duran Kalkan from the PKK declared, "they won't participate in a conference which they aren't involved in organizing," according to Fırat News Agency (ANF).
In another interview with NTV's Mete Çubukçu, Talabani said the armed movement isn't benefiting Kurds or Turks. "Today all peoples of the world should be involved in peaceful struggles. That is in parliaments, with diplomacy, through political activities and the media."
Pro-Kurdish democratic society Party (DTP) co-chair Ahmet Türk also met with Talabani and said that they take the planned conference seriously. "We long for peace," he said after the meeting.
According to ANF, arrested PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan said the following about the planned conference:
"In the Middle East, Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq join collaborate against Kurds. Kurds living in these countries must come together. Many prominent figures may attend this conference. Numerous parties from different views can come together."
According to Günlük daily, Talabani proposed to transfer leader PKK militants to third countries, an amnesty for those who weren't involved in clashes so that they can return to Turkey, during his meeting with the Turkish PM Erdoğan.
The newspaper noted that this approach overlaps with Henry J Barkey's recent report presented to US president Barack Obama.(TK/AGÜ)
