Kurdish exodus denied

Ankara - A Turkish government official yesterday dismissed reports that thousands of Kurds were lining up to flee the country for Europe as "propaganda" put about by exiled Kurdish rebel groups. The Kurdistan National Liberation Front recently warned in Rome that a "biblical exodus" of Kurds was in preparation and that at least 20,000 were ready to leave, a figure it said "could increase tenfold". In Germany, a Bavarian border police chief said at the weekend that some 10,000 Kurds were preparing to sail from Turkey to Italy.