Kurds go to Turkey in gesture of peace

The 34 Kurds, including eight rebels, were immediately detained by Turkish paramilitary police after crossing the Iraqi-Turkish border gate at Habur. They were moved to a battalion’s headquarters for questioning by prosecutors, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.

Earlier, Kurds in northern Iraq celebrated with music and drums as the group left from a refugee camp, Anatolia reported. The eight fighters joined the convoy from a rebel camp in Iraq’s Qandil mountains, where Turkey says the leaders of the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, are in hiding.

The group was carrying a letter to Turkish officials saying they hoped to make a “modest’’ contribution to peace with their journey and listing requests, including an end to military operations against the rebels, according to the pro-Kurdish news agency Firat News.

Other Kurdish demands included allowing Kurdish-language education and ending what they called “pressure and oppression’’ by security forces in mainly Kurdish villages and cities, the agency said.

Firat published a photograph of the rebels dressed in khaki pants, cummerbunds, and combat vests and walking along a northern Iraqi road.

At the border, thousands of Kurds greeted the group on the Turkish side by waving Kurdish flags, singing, dancing, and holding up banners calling for peace.

Riot police stood guard while a helicopter circled. Dozens of lawyers assisted the group during questioning, Kurdish lawmaker Sabahat Tuncel said.

The PKK - considered a terror organization by the United States and European Union - said its imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan had given instructions for “peace groups’’ to travel to Turkey to promote reconciliation. A second group of rebels, mainly Kurds in exile in Europe, was expected to arrive in Turkey at a later date, Turkish news reports said.

The Turkish government has been working on an initiative to end the conflict but has yet to release any details.