PKK must reinvent itself: Barzani

Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani says the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) must make dramatic changes if it doesn't want to be rejected by the masses of Kurdish people.

"They [the PKK] have two choices ahead: Either they will change themselves, or the Kurdish people will get rid of them," Barzani told Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Irbil late on Friday.

Davutoglu told Barzani that "a bright joint future” awaits Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds if the PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by many countries, is completely eliminated."

The senior Turkish diplomat added, "Reaching that bright future is impossible so long as sisters and brothers continue killing each other. There is a need to resolve the PKK issue by keeping track of it on three legs. The first leg is inside Turkey, and we will sort it out. The second leg is in northern Iraq, in the Qandil [Mountains], and here, we need your support. The third leg is in Europe, and we also expect your cooperation on this leg."

The remarks came as the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched what it calls a comprehensive approach to end a decades-old Kurdish issue. The proposal is believed to include greater cultural rights for Kurds, some form of local autonomy, and incentives to PKK fighters to lay down their arms.

The reforms are important for advancing Turkey's application for membership in the European Union, which wants Ankara to meet the bloc's human rights standards.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, Iran, the US, and European Union member states.

More than 40,000 people have lost their lives since the militant group launched its armed campaign against Ankara in 1984 as part of a quest to establish an independent Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey.

Turkish fighter jets frequently shell PKK strongholds in northern Iraq.