PKK kidnaps opposition leader in Turkey

ANKARA - The banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) on Sunday kidnapped a local leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in Tunceli province in eastern Turkey, local newspaper Today's Zaman reported on its website.

Tunceli governor was quoted as saying that PKK members blocked a road in Ovack town in Tunceli on Sunday evening, intercepting the car carrying CHP Tunceli deputy, Huseyin Aygun, as well as his aide and a journalist.

The PKK members released the two others except Aygun, said the report.

NTV television reported that government troops have launched an operation to rescue the lawmaker, saying that the PKK members have previously kidnapped soldiers, government workers and tourists, but never a lawmaker.

Aygun has served as a lawyer for 14 years.

The kidnapping comes days after Aygun's party called for an extraordinary meeting in the parliament on Tuesday to discuss the fight against the PKK.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, took up arms in 1984 in an attempt to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. Since then over 40,000 people have been killed in conflicts involving the group.