Jailed PKK leader said that his road map was democratic and unifying; not divisive as Turkey's oppositin parties claim, a Turkish newspaper said. Jailed PKK leader said that his road map was democratic and unifying; not divisive as Turkey's nationalist oppositin party claims, a Turkish newspaper said. "Road map is democratic, is unifying, and is complementary. MHP's divisive discourse is absolutely not true," Abdullah Ocalan said in routinely meeting with his lawyers. "Common land is Turkey and Kurdistan. Kurds will consider both Kurdistan and Turkey as their homeland," Radikal quoted Ocalan as saying. "Turks also will consider Turkey and Kurdistan as their homeland. "On the contrary, the road map is unifying; it is a service to the people of Turkey, to Turkey, and to Turkish democracy."

Called by "Seljuk Sultan"
Leader of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) said that the name of the region where most of the Kurd population live has remained from Seljuk time. "The word Kurdistan is not belong to me. I'm not the first person to use this word. Seljuk Sultan Sanjar used it for the first time," he said. "It is an historical concept. It is a concept that Ottoman Sultans used in their letters," he added. Ocalan claimed that there was a "republic" already and called to equip this "republic" with democracy. Chief of Turkish General staff Gen. Basbug said, military had always been and would continue to be the guardian of unitary, secular, nation state structure. Referring to the "democratization measures" package announced by the government, Basbug said the right to freely discuss issues should not contain elements that could jeopardise the existence of the state, or drive Turkey in to an atmosphere of separation and conflict.

Not "army" but "city police"
"Kurdish issue must be solved in a democratic way by democratization process of Turkey as well," he said. "What I said is not an army within an army or an army that is separate. It could be like a kind of city police that would be choosen by the residents of a neighborhood. "In villages, it could be the style of the militia, made up of militias as a security unit that would be trustworthy people, a private security system that would also choosen by villagers." Ocalan said that "As Interior Minister talks about a "Turkish model", this road map is the Turkish model for the solution." He said that he prepared a 160 pages as the roadmap and he wrote a 600-pages part of the defense titled "Democratization of the Middle Eastern Culture". Ocalan said the road map was total 760 pages.

"Opening"
Erdogan last month announced that his government initiated a move to deal with the Kurdish issue and the Ministry of Interior was assigned with the coordination of this task. As a first step, Interior Minister Atalay held a press conference to inform the public about the government's "democratic move" to address the so-called "Kurdish Issue". Atalay made clear that this was a process where measures would be shaped along the way through consensus of all state organs and all components of the society. Atalay said they would visit all political parties to ask for their contribution and support. He later met with a group of journalists at a workshop titled "Solution of the Kurdish Issue: Towards a Turkey Model". Atalay, so far, visited several political parties and non-governmental organizations. The government has given few details on the latest reforms, which are expected to focus on cultural issues, such as allowing Kurdish teaching in universities, restoring Kurdish village names and allowing Islamic sermons in Kurdish. However, the main opposition CHP and the second opposition party Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) refused to meet Atalay.

- World Bulletin-29-08-2009