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QANDIL MOUNTAINS: High in the mountains of northern Iraq, Kurdish rebels play volleyball in the afternoon sun after a day of political education classes.
Guerrillas keep watch over the valley for signs of intruders, while others stack up their Kalashnikov rifles and hand-grenade pouches and join the game, leaping around the improvised court in identical uniforms.
The Turkish Kurd rebel group formerly known as the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) announced the end of its six-year unilateral ceasefire with Turkey on June 1, telling investors and tourists to stay away from the country.
The declaration raised fears of more violence in the rebel's push for Kurdish rights, but guerrillas reaping the benefits of peace say they would much rather continue their education programmes than rush back to the battlefield.
"Everybody here is physically prepared for war, but mentally we are ready for peace," said Helin Garza, a 28-year-old female Kurdish guerrilla from Turkey, who has been wounded four times since joining up at the age of 14.
"We tried to alter our ideas, we decided enough blood had been spilled," Garza said. "We don't want to fight and we will go back if Turkey gives us our rights - we believe they might stop fighting after we end the ceasefire."
NEW IDEAS: Turkey has made some concessions to its more than 10 million Kurds since the ceasefire ended, freeing a prominent activist suspected of PKK ties and granting limited rights for Kurdish language broadcasts on state television.
But there is no sign that Turkey has abandoned the military option. Turkish troops have fought guerrillas in recent weeks and US President George W. Bush pledged in June to work with Turkey and Iraq's interim government against the group, which Washington lists as a "foreign terrorist organization".
More than 30,000 people were killed in a 15-year conflict between Turkey and Kurdish rebels before the capture of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999 led to a ceasefire and the withdrawal of rebel fighters from Turkey.
About 5,000 are now believed to be based at camps in the mountains of northern Iraq which house the fighters, 40 per cent of whom are women. Ocalan's latest writings emphasize the importance of winning rights for the Kurds through political rather than armed struggle.
This encouraged the rebels to establish a new political wing known as KONGRA-GEL in November 2003. Military training has continued, but guerrilla leaders say their fighters now receive twice as much instruction on political and cultural education than they did a few years ago.
"These last six years have been very good for us - we know ourselves better than before and we are more prepared ideologically and psychologically," said Cicek Jazeera, the training camp's 36-year-old commander. "This makes the guerrilla even stronger, we used to get just 15 days training, now we've been learning for six years."
READY FOR DIALOGUE: The movement's military leadership says it is ready to fight, but will not launch offensive operations if the Turkish government takes "positive steps towards a peaceful and democratic solution" of the Kurdish question in Turkey.
Kurdish rebels, split into various factions, have made demands ranging from the release of Ocalan to protection for the rights of their community, which occupies southeast Turkey and parts of Iraq, Iran and Syria.
Guerrillas who feel their lives have changed for the better since the ceasefire echo the words of their commanders, but say they have little appetite for more bloodshed. -Reuters
