Kurdish Rebels Accuse Ankara of 'Sabotaging' Peace Process

Rebels from the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on Friday accused Ankara of deliberately derailing a fragile peace process designed to end nearly three decades of conflict.

"It is clear that the government is behind efforts to sabotage the peace process," said a PKK statement reported by Kurdish news agency Firat.

The Kurdish militants criticized Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) for building new army barracks in majority-Kurdish areas, while allowing Kurdish militias to continue operating on behalf of the regular army.

The statement reiterated calls to allow an independent group of doctors to visit the PKK's imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan, who announced an historic ceasefire with the government in March.

Until these issues were resolved, the PKK said, "we are sending a final warning to the government. If they do not immediately take the steps called for by our people and public opinion, the peace process will not continue, and they will be to blame".

As part of the truce, the PKK agreed to withdraw its estimated 2,000 fighters from Turkey to their bases in northern Iraq.

In return, it is seeking wider constitutional rights for Turkey's 15 million Kurds.

But the peace process has been rattled by the death of a young Kurdish man during an anti-government protest in Turkey's southeast last month.

The PKK first took up arms for Kurdish self-rule in 1984, sparking a conflict that has cost some 45,000 lives.