A leading member of Turkey's banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was quoted on Thursday as rejecting an appeal from leading Turkish intellectuals for the rebel organisation to lay down its arms. A group of 100 intellectuals including best-selling novelist Orhan Pamuk issued a statement on Wednesday demanding the PKK halt all violence "without preconditions" and urging Ankara to seek a lasting peace in mainly Kurdish south-east Turkey.
"You cannot ask just one side to disarm ... You have to ask it of both sides. Only then would it make sense," the Europe-based Mezopotamya news agency, which is close to the rebels, quoted senior PKK member Murat Karayilan as saying.
He said the government bore responsibility for the continued violence because it had showed no interest in a dialogue.
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