Thursday, October 30, 2008 | NAMIK DURUKAN | ANKARA – Milliyet

The controversial suggestion by the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, to divide Turkey into regions and give broad powers to locally elected governors was presented to deputies by the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, this week.

The 64-page brochure, titled “Democratic Autonomy Project” and printed in Turkish, English and Kurdish, proposes Turkey be divided into 20 to 25 regions with each region given the power to designate its own symbols and colors.

The brochure was printed in Diyarbakır in the Southeast and was mailed to deputies, ministers and embassies so that it arrived at its destination on the eve of the Oct. 29 Republic Day celebrations.

The project was included by the DTP in its party program last year and was criticized by many politicians.

It includes a comprehensive administrative reform of the state structure with wide-ranging powers given to local governors.

The Kurdish identity and language must be protected by the Constitution, the brochure says, calling for a new and freer constitution.

The Republican People's Party, or CHP, deputy from Istanbul, Mustafa Özyürek, noted that it was the first time a Kurdish brochure was distributed in Parliament.

“They also ask for a federation by hiding behind democratic autonomy,” he said.

He said the escalation of terrorism by the PKK was aimed at creating another state.

Özyürek said the recent street violence in the Southeast showed the DTP was not content in merely preparing such documents but also wanted to implement their suggestions through violent means.