Turkish opposition delays PKK peace plan

Nationalist lawmakers in Turkey have delayed the government's announcement of a plan to end the over two-decade conflict in the Kurdish-dominated southeast.

Interior Minister Besir Atalay ran out of time to present the measures in parliament amid a tension triggered by opposition MPs.

The plans, first announced three months ago, apparently include education in Kurdish language, restoring Kurdish names of places and more freedom to use Kurdish in election campaigns.

The incident comes despite efforts by the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan seeking opposition support for a negotiated settlement to end the insurgency by the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK).

The PKK, blacklisted as terrorist organization, has been engaged in a 25-year armed struggle for autonomy against the Ankara government which has left over 40,000 people killed.

Nationalist sentiment has been too strong in Turkey to allow any official recognition of a separate Kurdish identity for the ethnic Kurds who make nearly 20 percent of the Turkish population.

Turkey's government started to mellow down after a group of PKK fighters entered the country from northern Iraq and announced they wanted to lay down their arms.

The government package, now awaiting parliamentary debate on Thursday, is expected to stop short of indulging the request for a general amnesty made by the PKK and its supporters.

On Tuesday, the leader of the main opposition, Republican People's Party, Deniz Baykal, harshly criticized the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) party for offering the package, calling it a 'plot in the name of developing democracy' which would jeopardize the republic's accomplishments.

In recent years, Turkish military has tightened the noose against PKK forces, launching regular airstrikes on their hideouts in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan.

Ankara says the Iraqi region hosts some 2,000 PKK guerrilla fighters who stage hit-and-run attacks inside the Turkish territory.