Ecevit refuses Ocalan's appeal

Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit has refused the call addressed by the leader of the Kurdistani Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, in which he asked his fighters to withdraw from Turkey.

In statements to reporters in Ankara, Ecevit said the state of Turkey does not bargain with an individual or an organization, saying that the PKK is suspended in a deadlocked road.

Meanwhile, the Turkish daily Radical said on Wednesday that Turkey and Israel are now close to signing an agreement on joint production of air-surface missiles of Popeye-2 type, in Turkey.

The paper added that signing this agreement will constitute a gigantic step on the path of bilateral cooperation between the two countries, as Turkey will spend some 132 trillion Turkish Lira on the project.

The paper added that despite Washington's concern over this project, it did not oppose it.

Elsewhere, confrontations took place between Turkish security forces and armed Kurds in southeastern Anadulia, resulting in killing some 11 armed Kurds.

The governor of Deyar Baker district said in a statement he made on Wednesday that the mopping-up operations carried out by the Turkish forces in the district resulted in the death of four gunmen in the city of Wan and other three in the city of Moush, two persons in the city of Mardin and two others in its suburbs.