ANKARA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's Democratic Society Party (DTP) called on the government on Wednesday to stop military operations against the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) to prove its "Kurdish move" sincere, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

    DTP leader Ahmet Turk made the appeal after a meeting with Turkey's top business organization TUSIAD on the Kurdish issue, saying that they would not trust the government unless all military operations against PKK are halted.

    "Our wish is also peace and a democratic solution. While putting forth this democratic solution, democratic and cultural rights of the 20 million Kurds living in Turkey should not be ignored," said Turk.

    Earlier in the day, Turkish Interior Minister Besir Atalay said the government is to introduce a package plan aimed at boosting the democratic rights of its Kurdish community to solve the over-two-decade Kurdish issue.

    "We believe the Kurdish problem can be solved by improving and enhancing the democratic rights of our citizens and ensuring that all see themselves as free and equal citizens ... The solution lies in democracy," Atalay told a press conference.

    Atalay said the government has yet to finalize the package plan, which would contain short, medium and long-term measures, but he declined to give details.

    About the Turkish government's "Kurdish move," the DTP head said the government should make haste and not create a sense of frustration in the public.

    The DTP, which won the majority of the municipalities in the local elections of March in the eastern and southeastern provinces of Turkey where Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin are mostly concentrated, refuses to regard PKK as a terrorist organization.

    Lawmakers and mayors from the DTP which holds 21 seats in the parliament have faced charges due to their pro-PKK speeches.

    Established in 1978, the PKK took up arms in 1984 to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. Some 40,000 people have been killed in conflicts involving the PKK for the past over two decades.

    Turkey's military forces have taken tougher actions against the PKK after the country's legislature gave the government mandate to launch cross-border operations against the rebels in northern Iraq in October 2007 and extended it in 2008.

    It is estimated that there are a total of 5,000 PKK militants, the majority of whom are holed up in northern Iraq where the PKK headquarters is situated.