GERMAN MOUNTAINEERS WILL NOT BE RELEASED SOON, SAYS PKK

Turkish Daily News
July 11 2008
Turkey

Germany’s efforts to crackdown on the outlawed PKK is the reason why
three mountaineers were kidnapped as they were climbing Mt. Agrı,
the group said in a statement. The governor’s office says the mountain
is closed to climbers until the Germans are freed

ISTANBUL – TDN with wire dispatches

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) confirmed yesterday they
had kidnapped three Germans on a climbing trip in eastern Turkey
and said they were in good health, the pro-Kurdish Firat news agency
reported.

The group threatened not to release the hostages unless Berlin ended
its crackdown against their group and its supporters, according to
a statement by the PKK, published on Firat’s Internet site.

"The German tourists will not be released unless the German state
announces that it has given up its hostile policies against the
Kurdish people and the PKK," the statement said.

The PKK’s statement came as Mount Agrı (Ararat) in the east of the
country is declared closed to climbers until further notice in order
to prevent mountaineers hindering the security operation launched to
free the kidnapped Germans, the Dogan news agency reported yesterday.

Five members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK,
kidnapped three of a group of 13 German mountaineers late Tuesday as
they were camping at an altitude of 3,200 meters.

The PKK members told the group that they were taking hostages in
protest at the German government’s crackdown on PKK-affiliated bodies
and its supporters in Germany, Agrı Governor Mehmet Cetin told the
Anatolia news agency Wednesday.

The kidnappers took the tourists’ mobile phones as they left the camp.

"The remaining mountaineers noticed in the morning that the PKK members
had thrown some of the phones under a rock and used them to inform us,"
Cetin said.

Paramilitary troops have launched an operation to rescue the hostages,
while the other climbers were brought down from the mountain.

Last month, German authorities banned the Danish-based Roj TV from
broadcasting in the country because it promoted the PKK. They also
ordered the closure of a production house that supplied the channel
with programming.

The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and several
Western countries, has been fighting for self-rule in the east and
southeast of the country since 1984. The conflict has claimed more
than 37,000 lives.

Mount Agrı, situated close to the Iranian and Armenian borders,
is the highest mountain in Turkey at 5,137 meters (16,853 feet) and
is believed by many to be the final resting place of the Biblical
Noah’s Ark.

The Dogan news agency identified the kidnapped Germans as Lars Holger
Renne, 33, Martin Georg, 49, and Helmut Johann, 65.

Governor Cetin said they will do everything in their power to rescue
the kidnapped Germans safely. "We will consider opening Mt. Agrı to
climbers after the release of the tourists," he said, adding that
the rest of the mountaineering group left Dogubeyazıt yesterday
for Istanbul.

The security forces have established a cordon around the mountain,
reported Dogan news agency, noting that all details of individuals
traveling to and from villages on the outskirts of Mt. Agrı were
being recorded.

Bad for business:

Travel agents and hoteliers in the region are furious over the wide
coverage generated by the kidnappings, arguing that it has cost them
serious business, reported Dogan.

One agent told Dogan that the biggest revenue generator in the
region is tourism and after Mt. Agrı is closed to climbing, no one
will visit.

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