Kurdish militants reportedly open to cease-fire

ISTANBUL - The Kurdish separatist group that is fighting Turkey from hideouts in northern Iraq has declared its willingness for a cease-fire, according to a statement posted on a Kurdish website last night.

Turkish officials do not officially respond to such statements because they feel that would amount to recognizing the group, but have viewed similar announcements skeptically, saying that the group has issued many such declarations, but that it rarely holds to them.

The Turkish military continued shelling along its southern border against the Kurdish group, known as the Kurdistan Workers' Party, a day after the group ambushed Turkish soldiers, killing 12.

The attack touched off a serious escalation of tensions between Turkey, a NATO member; Iraq; and the United States.

In a fresh sign of trouble, the Turkish military acknowledged in a statement that eight of its soldiers were missing after Sunday's ambush.

The militants released the names of eight Turkish soldiers, mostly conscripts from cities throughout Turkey, and said they were holding them in captivity.

Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said the Kurdish group's assertion that it had the soldiers was unsubstantiated, describing it as a "psychological operation."

"Right now, as you all know, surveillance and military action conducted by our armed forces continue intensely in the region," he said before leaving for an official visit to London. "We hope that as a result of all this searching and clashes we would have the opportunity to find our eight privates."

The Kurdish group said in the statement yesterday that it was willing to stop fighting.

"We extend the hand of peace once again," said the statement, posted on the website of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the political party of Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, who is a Kurd.

The site gave as its source the Firat News Agency, an online service that often carries statements from the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

"We are ready to discuss the issue," the statement said.

The United States has been pressing Talabani and Massoud Barzani, the leader of the northern Kurdish region in Iraq, to take steps to curb the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

The website of Talabani's party said the group made its statement after requests from Iraqi Kurdish leaders.

A Turkish government spokesman did not return calls requesting comment last night.

But Turkish officials have been highly skeptical of cease-fires that were declared by the group in the past.

They contend that the cease-fires often have more to do with weather than political intent because they frequently come just as winter starts to complicate raids in the mountainous terrain in which the militants operate.

The Kurds say the Turks regularly trample on their efforts to make peace.

"Neither the government nor the military is likely to take this cease-fire seriously," said Faik Bulut, a Kurdish writer and specialist on the Kurdistan Workers' Party based in Ankara.

Turkish officials acknowledge that they do not expect a major crackdown on the group by the United States. But they say that with the recent attacks that have left nearly 40 dead, they have to demonstrate to the public that they are doing something to stop them. The toll has struck a nerve in Turkish society, and it prompted protests across the country yesterday.

In that respect, a cease-fire declaration would be nearly worthless in defusing the current crisis because the Turkish public views such announcements with equal skepticism.

"I do not think the Turkish public would give any credit to this cease-fire, either," Bulut said in a telephone interview.

The militant group has called for cease-fires five times since 1993, according to a website linked to the party, Rojaciwan.com.

The most recent, in October 2006, was broken last spring on a number of occasions.