Senior members of Turkey’s biggest pro-Kurdish political party met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday in an attempt to advance the dissolution of the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy (Dem) Party were meeting the Turkish leader at his presidential complex in the capital Ankara, the party said in a statement. The talks were still under way on Thursday evening.
Dem has been mediating between the Turkish government and the PKK, which has waged a four-decade insurgency against the state.
The group, which says it has used armed struggle to secure better rights for Turkey’s Kurdish ethnic minority, is listed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara, the EU and the US.
Ms Buldan and Mr Sancar are part of a delegation that has been allowed relatively frequent visits to the PKK’s jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan since the group's dissolution process began. Their mediation between Ocalan and Turkey’s leadership is the closest that the two sides have come publicly in decades.
On Sunday, the PKK announced it was withdrawing from Turkey and sending its fighters to its mountain bases in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
In February, Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence in a remote island prison near Istanbul, called on members to disarm and dissolve the group that he founded in the late 1970s. In July, PKK fighters burnt some of their weapons in what Kurdish politicians in Turkey described as a sign of the militants' readiness to move away from armed struggle.
The group's dissolution would end one of the Middle East’s longest conflicts, which has defined modern Turkey and caused the deaths of at least 40,000 people on both sides.
Kurdish politicians and PKK members expect the Turkish government to lay out concrete paths for former fighters to reintegrate into society. Parliament has formed a 51-member commission to propose legal changes to allow amnesties for former fighters, the release of prisoners jailed on PKK-related charges and wider cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey.
Dem party officials are calling for an acceleration in what they describe as process for “peace and a democratic society”. Turkish government officials frame the process as one leading to a “terror-free Turkey”.
But amnesties, prisoner releases and wider rights for Turkey’s Kurds face opposition from other stakeholders in the country. Some political parties and groups representing Turkish army veterans oppose what they see as concessions to the PKK forming any part of the dissolution process.
The commission has not yet announced any firm steps forward, although parliamentary speaker Numan Kurtulmus said on Thursday that it would present the wider parliament with “a framework to determine next steps” to be taken once Turkish authorities are convinced that the PKK has dissolved itself.
“We hope that the organisation … will also eliminate its presence beyond our borders as soon as possible and that we will enter a period where terrorism is no longer mentioned not only in Turkey but also in Syria, Iraq, Iran and other regions,” Mr Kurtulmus said in a speech after the PKK’s announcement that it was withdrawing from Turkey.
Over decades, the PKK’s presence has extended beyond Turkey, and the group’s affiliates control swathes of territory in neighbouring Syria, as well as bases in Iraq and Iran.
Dem party co-chair Tuncer Bakirhan said the dissolution process “must evolve through laws, rights and freedoms”.
“The Parliament must facilitate this process and make the necessary legal arrangements for the transition period,” he told a press conference in Ankara.
He also called for “free working conditions, communication, and living conditions” for Ocalan to enable him to play “a more active role” in the road to peace, he added.
Ocalan has been in jail since 1999, after being captured by Turkish commandos in Nairobi. His death sentence for treason, separatism and leading an armed terrorist organisation was commuted to life imprisonment in 2002, when Turkey abolished capital punishment.
Thursday's meeting os third between Dem party officials and Mr Erdogan since the start of the PKK’s dissolution process. The first meeting in April prompted pro-Kurdish politicians to express greater hope over the prospects of a new era of Kurdish-Turkish relations. The two sides met again in July.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
Pathaan
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What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
Liverpool's all-time goalscorers
Ian Rush 346
Roger Hunt 285
Mohamed Salah 250
Gordon Hodgson 241
Billy Liddell 228
Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
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In numbers
1,000 tonnes of waste collected daily:
- 800 tonnes converted into alternative fuel
- 150 tonnes to landfill
- 50 tonnes sold as scrap metal
800 tonnes of RDF replaces 500 tonnes of coal
Two conveyor lines treat more than 350,000 tonnes of waste per year
25 staff on site
UAE's role in anti-extremism recognised
General John Allen, President of the Brookings Institution research group, commended the role the UAE has played in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism.
He told a Globsec debate of the UAE’s "hugely outsized" role in the fight against Isis.
"It’s trite these days to say that any country punches above its weight, but in every possible way the Emirates did, both militarily, and very importantly, the UAE was extraordinarily helpful on getting to the issue of violent extremism," he said.
He also noted the impact that Hedayah, among others in the UAE, has played in addressing violent extremism.
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Florida Project
Director: Sean Baker
Starring: Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe
Four stars
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Baby Driver
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Lily James
Three and a half stars
RIDE%20ON
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Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
Scores in brief:
- New Medical Centre 129-5 in 17 overs bt Zayed Cricket Academy 125-6 in 20 overs.
- William Hare Abu Dhabi Gymkhana 188-8 in 20 overs bt One Stop Tourism 184-8 in 20 overs
- Alubond Tigers 138-7 in 20 overs bt United Bank Limited 132-7 in 20 overs
- Multiplex 142-6 in 17 overs bt Xconcepts Automobili 140 all out in 20 overs
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp
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Read more about the coronavirus
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Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
More on Quran memorisation:
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MATCH INFO
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Son 1', Kane 8' & 16') West Ham United 3 (Balbuena 82', Sanchez og 85', Lanzini 90' 4)
Man of the match Harry Kane
