EU considers Ocalan's call a positive deelopment

The European Union welcomed a call made by the outlawed PKK head Abdullah Ocalan to end the armed struggle in a letter which was read earlier on Thursday during Nowruz celebrations. A joint statement made by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and European Commissioner Stefan Fule said, "We welcome today's call on the PKK to lay down arms and withdraw beyond Turkey's borders and the positive reactions to that call. This is a further important step forward in the on-going process aimed at ending a conflict which has claimed far too many victims.” Furthermore, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said he considered the call made by Ocalan as an important step for mutual confidence.