Domestic

Home page

Domestic

Venezuela opposition says blocked from meeting near summit

11 September 2016 01:26 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The jailed leader of a Kurdish militant group will be allowed a visit from a family member during a Muslim holiday next week, the state-run Anadolu Agency said Saturday, quoting a security official, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, can see his brother, Mehmet, during the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of restrictions on speaking with media outlets. The holiday, which begins Monday, is known in Turkey as Kurban Bayrami.

The time and date of the visit were not disclosed, Anadolu said.

Ocalan is founder of the PKK, a separatist group that Turkey, the United States and European Union regard as a terrorist organization.

Tens of thousands have died in a bloody insurgency the PKK has waged in Turkey since 1984. The group's initial goal was to establish an independent Kurdish state, but it later demanded autonomy within Turkey.

A ceasefire between Turkey and the PKK ended last year. Anadolu noted the group resumed its attacks against Turkey last summer.

The government has been battling the PKK in southeastern Turkey and has fought the group in Iraq. It has also targeted Syrian Kurdish fighters it regards as

offshoots of the PKK. Many Kurds live in Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria, but they do not have their own country.