A small group of Kurdish separatist guerrillas surrendered to the Turkish army after crossing from Iraq on Monday, in a gesture of rebel support for government plans to expand Kurdish rights, Reuters reported. Eight militants from a Kurdistan Workers" Party (PKK) camp in the Kandil Mountains in northern Iraq crossed a border gate near Silopi in Turkey"s southeast, where thousands of supporters were awaiting them with PKK flags. Two other groups of refugees and PKK supporters also surrendered to authorities, witnesses said. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan"s government has been working on an initiative that is expected to give greater freedoms to the 12 million-strong Kurdish minority in Turkey"s southeast. The process is seen as vital to Turkey"s European Union membership application. -- SPA-- SPA
