(20 Mar 2013)
FILE: Imrali Island, Turkey - 31 May 1999
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1. Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan behind bullet- and bomb-proof glass inside court room
2. Wide pan of court room to Ocalan and judge's bench
Istanbul, Turkey - 20 March 2013
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3. Wide of group of men chatting and playing cards in cafe
4. Reverse shot of ethnic Kurdish resident Sukru Mersin reading newspaper, headline reading: (Turkish) "We will solve this issue"
5. Mid of men playing cards
6. Close of cards on table
7. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Sukru Mersin, ethnic Kurdish resident of Istanbul:
"We're like brothers. 'This one is a Kurd, that one is a Turk' - there is no such thing. I've been living in Istanbul for years and nobody has ever said to me: 'you're a Kurd.' We don't have that problem. But because of this terrorism issue, our villages are now empty. And if there's peace, we'll all be happy."
FILE: Northern Iraq, exact location and date not available
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8. Various of PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) troops training in northern Iraq
Istanbul, Turkey - 20 March 2013
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9. Milliyet newspaper columnist Asli Aydintasbas using laptop computer
10. Close of her hands
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Asli Aydintasbas, Columnist for Milliyet:
"One (reason) is the realisation that you can't win. It doesn't mean you've lost, but you can't win - and this goes for both sides. And secondly, Turkey, there's very much a sense of rebuilding, resurgence, renaissance. Turkey has ambitions beyond Turkey's borders, they want to be a regional power, they want to be the leader of � particularly this pro-Islamist government, they want to be leader of the Sunni world, et cetera. So while they have these grand ambitions for the Middle East and for regional leadership, it just looks bad that they have this bleeding internal struggle."
FILE: Kazan Valley, Turkey - 22 October 2011
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12. Helicopters firing flares during military operation against PKK rebels in Kazan Valley, near border with Iraq
Istanbul, Turkey - 20 March 2013
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Asli Aydintasbas, Columnist for Milliyet:
"There are huge compromises that both sides seem willing to make. The compromise on the Kurdish side is not small. They've given up visions of an independent Kurdistan. They've given up demands for local autonomy, which has been the lynchpin of the organisation, of the movement, for the past 10 years. Basically, it has come down to two things: (a) the Kurdish issue will be solved through the overall democratisation of Turkey - a 'rising tide lifts all boats' kind of an argument. And two, they want some sort of improvement in Ocalan's imprisonment conditions."
14. Mid of Turkish resident Sabahattin Ertin playing cards
15. Close of cards
16. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Sabahattin Ertin, Turkish resident of Istanbul:
"I think this political intervention by the Turkish government is a very positive step. This whole situation (conflict) makes us all nervous - mothers and fathers, our soldiers, our Turkish and Kurdish citizens. We all grew up together. But this process we've embarked on is being described as a peace process. And a majority of the people support it, people are happy about it. God willing, the solution will be one that we're all hoping for."
17. Various of city skyline
STORYLINE:
Hopes were high on Wednesday amid expectations that jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan is to make a "historic call" towards peace with the Turkish government in a message timed to coincide with the spring Newroz festivities.
But he also suggested that Turkey's parliament needed to take steps to advance the peace process.
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