Car Burned Outside Turkey's Parliament Before A Meeting On Distribution Of PKK Weapons

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JAKARTA - The car was set on fire near Turkey's parliament on Tuesday, just hours before the families of several victims were scheduled to make a speech before a commission that oversees the removal of weapons from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

The PKK, which took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984, previously said it would strip and disperse.

The parliamentary commission was formed this month to establish a path to eternal peace.

Reported by Reuters, Renault Toro's white car caught fire briefly outside the parliament's main gate on Tuesday, August 19 morning. Police Ankara said a man who was detained for burning the car suffered from psychological problems and also had previous criminal records.

In the 1990s, during one of the bloodiest phases of the PKK conflict, such vehicles became well-known in the southeastern region, mostly inhabited by Kurdish tribes, where they were linked to kidnappings and extrajudicial killings alleged against groups affiliated with the state.

More than 40,000 people have died in fighting that lasted more than four decades.

The families of security personnel and civilians killed in the conflict are scheduled to speak before the parliamentary commission with some of them expected to question the peace effort.

PKK was designated a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies.

His jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan urged the PKK to end the uprising and several militants set fire to their weapons last month at a ceremony in northern Iraq where they are now based marking a symbolic first step.