(28 Feb 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Istanbul, Turkey – 28 February 2025
1. Wide of people walking at the streets of Istanbul, Hagia Sophia in the background
2. Mid of Hagia Sophia
3. Mid of man playing the violin
4. Various of people disembarking the ferry at Karaköy Pier
5. Wide of Bircan Tekin, 57-year-old taxi driver, smoking by his taxi
6. Mid of Tekin
7. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Bircan Tekin, 57-year-old taxi driver:
“Regarding the terrorists: Abdullah Ocalan (imprisoner leader of the PKK, Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and them, they are the same. It is impossible for them to lay down their weapons. No matter how much they agree, those groups will try to do something. They will try to do something, whether it is in the mountains or anywhere else. I mean, it will not get better, it cannot get better, there is no way.”
8. Mid of people walking on the Golden Horn bridge
9. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Sukru Icoz, 70-year-old shopkeeper:
“The end of everything is peace. The end of all resentment, wars, everything is peace. These people are destroyed. They were destroyed economically, their lives were lost, people were lost, everywhere is in shambles, but in the end, peace is the most beneficial thing.”
10. Mid of a couple walking on the Golden Horn bridge
11. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Sukru Icoz, 70-year-old shopkeeper:
“People have been victims on both sides. This really needs to end. That’s my opinion.”
12. Wide of a newspaper kiosk
13. Mid of government leaning newspaper Hürriyet with the headline (Turkish): “Ocalan called out to the PKK: ‘Lay down arms and dissolve yourself.’
14. Wide of newspapers
15. Mid of pro-opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet with the headline (Turkish): “A call to disarm”
16. Mid of pro-government newspaper Yeni Şafak with the headline (Turkish): “If they are sincere, a historical step: PKK must dissolve itself.”
17. Various of Golden Horn Bridge and Hagia Sophia mosque
STORYLINE:
Imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan called on his militant group on Thursday to lay down its arms and dissolve as part of a new bid to end a four-decade long conflict with Turkey’s government that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Ocalan’s announcement is part of a new effort for peace between the group and the Turkish state, which was initiated in October by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s coalition partner, Devlet Bahçeli.
The far-right politician suggested that Ocalan could be granted parole if his group renounces violence and disbands.
Ocalan, 75, has been imprisoned on the island of İmralı, off Istanbul, since 1999, after being convicted of treason.
Despite his incarceration, he continues to wield significant influence over the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The group’s leadership is widely expected to heed any call Ocalan makes, although some factions within the group could resist, analysts say.
In the predominantly Kurdish cities of Diyarbakir and Van in southeast Turkey, people gathered in public spaces, dancing in anticipation of the announcement.
But some in Istanbul were critical of the announcement.
“Regarding the terrorists: Abdullah Ocalan (imprisoner leader of the PKK, Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and them, they are the same. It is impossible for them to lay down their weapons. No matter how much they agree, those groups will try to do something,” said Bircan Tekin, a taxi driver.
The peace effort comes at a time when Erdogan may need support from the DEM (Party of the Greens and the Left Future) party in parliament to enact a new constitution that could allow him to stay in power.
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/4af4e08f60304e24b0f1f8314be30063
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in March 5, 2025, 12:04 pm.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
