Far-right leader irked over PKK returns

ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Far-right leaders in Turkey have expressed frustration over the handling of the return of members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party from Iraq.

Members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, have left their refugee camp in Iraq to meet Turkish authorities as part of an effort to find a political solution to the so-called Kurdish question.

Ankara has struggled with the ambitions of the Kurdish minority and conflict with PKK separatists. The government has embarked on a plan to offer cultural and other concessions to the Kurdish minority, but recently extended a mandate for cross-border raids into Iraqi to target PKK rebels.

Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned PKK leader, called on his members to form "peace groups" as part of the broader reconciliation effort.

Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party, said the euphoric celebrations greeting the returning PKK members are an embarrassment to the nation, Turkey's daily Today's Zaman reports.

"Judges and prosecutors traveled (to the border) just to take their testimony," he complained. "The honor of our judges and prosecutors has been tarnished. The law was blatantly ignored for politics."

Washington, for its part, said that while it listed the PKK as a terrorist organization, it welcomed the effort at reconciliation.