Kurd ceasefire rejected

Ankara - Turkey marked the 75th anniversary of its successful war of independence yesterday with a new military high command and the rejection of a ceasefire offer from Kurdish rebels. In a television interview on Friday night, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Mr Abdullah Ocalan, announced a unilateral ceasefire, which is due to begin tomorrow. The military remains adamantly opposed to any negotiation with the PKK after a 14-year war. The Prime Minister, Mr Mesut Yilmaz, dismissed Mr Ocalan's offer of talks and urged the rebel leader to surrender. "We will never accept him as a negotiating partner," he said.