TUNCELI (Turkey), Nov 11: A Turkish Kurd rebel group said on Tuesday it was disbanding and would be replaced by a broader body to work for a peaceful end to a conflict that has claimed some 30,000 lives in southeastern Turkey since 1984.

But Ankara swiftly dismissed the move as a public relations ploy and said it continued to regard the Congress for Freedom and Democracy in Kurdistan (KADEK), known until last year as the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), as a “terrorist” outfit.

“KADEK is being dissolved in order to make way for a new, more democratic organizational structure that allows for broader participation,” the group said in a statement issued in Baghdad.

But the statement also made clear KADEK would not shut its military wing, which it said would now be known as the People’s Defence Forces (HPG in Kurdish) and would remain armed.

A senior KADEK official, Cemil Bayik, told Mezopotamya news agency, which serves as the group’s mouthpiece, the changes had come in response to the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq, but he did not elaborate.

Officials at the Europe-based Mezopotamya said in the Turkish city of Tunceli KADEK’s political arm would likely be renamed the Kurdistan People’s Congress (KHK) shortly.—Reuters