Kurdish groups may call for conference

ANKARA, Turkey, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- The main pro-Kurdish party in Turkey plans to discuss the so-called Kurdish question and push for a broader conference to tackle the issue with Iraqi leaders.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdish government in Iraq, host a delegation Tuesday in Erbil for members of Turkey's pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, to discuss the so-called Kurdish question.

Kurdish leaders may also consider pushing a Kurdish conference in the region to discuss their own initiatives, Turkish daily Today's Zaman reports.

Ankara put forward a sweeping plan to find a political solution to lingering issues with the Kurdish minority in Turkey earlier this year.

Leaders with the DTP are expected to lobby for a conference to gather the Kurdish diaspora and regional groups to discuss their plans for a political solution. If the conference goes forward, the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq may host the summit, inviting Kurdish leaders in Europe, Iran, Syria, Iraq and Turkey.

Ankara is scheduled to unveil its roadmap for the Kurdish question by October. Pro-Kurdish groups were expecting a statement on the issue from imprisoned Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan, though his lawyers were unable to obtain his message.