Turkey has embarked on talks with an imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan's Workers Party with the aim of disarming it, UPI quoted a Turkish government adviser as saying. Yalcin Akdogan, and adviser to Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Monday government officials have held talks with imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to end the 28-year-old struggle, the Turkish daily Today's Zaman reported Tuesday. Akdogan described Ocalan as a "key actor" adding he has retained influence over the organization despite reports his leadership has been challenged in some areas. "The main aim for the government is to disarm them. You cannot get results and abolish an organization through armed struggle alone," the paper quoted Akdogan saying. While the government is cautious about the prospects of progress, "the organization [PKK] cannot get anywhere by waging an armed struggle," he said. Ocalan was captured in 1999 and sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted when Turkey abolished the death penalty and he was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment.
