MOSCOW. March 22 (Interfax) - The International Union of Kurdish Organizations supports the jailed leader of the Workers Party of Kurdistan Abdullah Ocalan's call for ending fire and withdrawing armed rebels from Turkey, Union leader Merad Shamoyev told Interfax on Thursday.
"We support this call of course and we think that a peaceful settlement of the Kurdish problem has no alternative. We have been following the talks between the Turkish authorities and Ocalan for a long time and we welcome any progress towards a common denominator. A confrontation of 30 years has taken thousands of lives but failed to solve the problem," he said.
He also said that the Workers Party of Kurdistan would hopefully heed their leader's call and remove its armed formations from Turkey. "However, disarmament of Kurdish formations is not on the agenda now," Shamoyev said.
A few days ago the Workers Party of Kurdistan freed eight Turkish citizens from prison, he said.
Ocalan, jailed in Turkey, urged his associates on Thursday to stop the fire for peace talks with Turkey.
The time is right for politics, not arms, Ocalan said in a statement, read out by one of the party leaders in the Kurdish language in Diyarbakir.
Ocalan also said that he wants Kurdish rebels to withdraw from Turkey.