Published: Feb. 18, 2013 at 12:24 PM<\/p>\n
ANKARA, Turkey, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- There's no chance the Turkish government will pardon jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, said Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag. <\/p>\n
A pro-Kurdish group took out an advertisement in British newspaper The Guardian advocating freedom for Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party jailed since 1999. <\/p>\n
Bozdag said the ad undermined renewed efforts to find a solution to the Kurdish issue. The separatist group, known by its Kurdish initials PKK, has fought the Turkish government to gain more recognition for Kurdish rights. <\/p>\n
The deputy prime minister said Ocalan's freedom \"will not and cannot happen,\" reports Turkish daily Today's Zaman. <\/p>\n
Turkey recently reached out to Ocalan to find a solution to a crisis brewing since the 1980s. The peace process comes after the killing of three high-ranking members of the separatist movement in early January in Paris. <\/p>\n
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said there is no justification for terrorism in Turkey but the government was committed to peace initiatives with the PKK. <\/p>\n
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Turkey rules out freedom for PKK leader<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Published: Feb. 18, 2013 at 12:24 PM ANKARA, Turkey, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- There's no chance the Turkish government will pardon jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, said Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag Continue reading