News Analysis: Conflicts continue in Turkey, threatening negotiations with PKK (4)

The Turkish government is prepared to undertake a number of steps to meet the demands long-voiced by the PKK and other Kurdish groups in Turkey, including the reversion of place names to their original Kurdish forms. The parliamentary Interior Affairs Commission is expected to take up proposals on this issue soon.

The ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) deputy from predominantly Kurdish Diyarbakir province, Galip Ensarioglu, said that steps such as reinstating the original Kurdish names of settlements will contribute positively to a solution to the Kurdish problem.

The restoration of names is not limited to Kurdish towns and cities, but also includes other places populated by Turks.

The PKK is listed as terror organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Turkey's conflict with the PKK claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people, mostly Kurds, since 1984 and cost Turkey some 300 billion U.S. dollars.

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