A Kurdish militant group said on Wednesday a police crackdown on anti-government protests in Turkey threatened to undermine its peace process with Ankara, aimed at ending a conflict which has killed 40,000 people over three decades.

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), whose guerrillas began leaving Turkish territory in small groups a month ago under the terms of the peace accord, said the violence went against the aims of a process meant to bolster democracy.

"It is a clear fact that this police violence implemented by the AK Party government is contrary to the spirit of the current democratic resolution process," said a PKK statement carried by the Firat news agency, which is close to the rebels.

It gave no indication that it was considering pulling out of the process or taking any other action.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets acrossTurkeyover the past week in the biggest and most violent anti-government demonstrations in years.

The protests have drawn a harsh response from police, who have fired tear gas and water cannon at the crowds. Two people have been killed during the protests and thousands injured.

Murat Karayilan, commander of the PKK, which is designated a terrorist organization byTurkey, theUnited Statesand the European Union, said the protests had underlined the need for the "creation of a new democraticTurkey".

The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), which has helped negotiate the peace process with the PKK, said the violence risked undermining the agreement and blamed Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan for the unrest.

"It is the prime minister who lit the flame which resulted in the whole country being messed up," BDP leader Selahattin Demirtas told a party meeting in parliament on Tuesday.


"If the government is thinking both of the negotiation process and peace on the streets then it must urgently announce a democratization package," he said.



Soran Ali