Turkey criticises Germany for encouraging PKK

The German chancellor, Helmut Kohl, says he deeply regrets Turkey's reaction to a decision by German prosecutors to stop treating the Kurdish separatist group, the PKK, as what they call a terrorist organisation.

The PKK was redesignated a criminal organisation after its representatives agreed to renounce violence on German soil.

The German Chancellor said he remained hopeful that an open dialogue could be re-established with the government in Ankara.

Earlier the Turkish Deputy prime minister, Bulent Ecevit strongly criticised the German decision, saying it sent a dangerous message to the PKK.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service