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Ocalan extends hand to Armenians

Abdullah Ocalan, head of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), has written a letter that seems to turn a new page in the bitter Armenian-Kurdish relationship.
Selahattin Demirtas, co-chairman of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), gestures during a rally to celebrate the spring festival of Newroz in Istanbul March 17, 2013. Kurdish parliamentarians set off by boat on Monday to visit Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan in his island prison where they expected him to summon his fighters to cease fire and leave Turkey to help end a 28-year-old insurgency. The conflict has been a major source of instability in Turkey, a NATO member, and a huge burden
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Although important figures of the Kurdish movement such as Osman Baydemir and Altan Tan make statements from time to time addressing the Armenian genocide and extending a hand to Armenians, remarks by Abdullah Ocalan last year create questions about how the Kurds view the Armenian issue.

In one statement, Ocalan said, "There are three-pronged parallel state schemes in Turkey. These are sabotaging relations. They are not run-of-the-mill lobbies. Jewish, Armenian and Greek lobbies in the United States are interfering strategically and tactically. All three originate from Anatolia.”

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