Brussels, 23/02/2000 (Agence Europe) - European Parliament President Nicole Fontaine has called on Turkish authorities to release Messrs Celik, Ozalp and Karaaslan, Mayors of Ciyarbakir, Siirt and Bingol and members of the Kurdish Nationalist Party HADEP (see yesterday's EUROPE, page 8, for Daniel Cohn-Bendit's reaction to these arrests and postponement of the meeting of the EU/Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Ankara; Mr Cohn-Bendit chairs the committee). "At a time when the PKK is announcing that it is laying down its weapons, following the advice of its jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan, this measure cannot but undermine efforts to find a peaceful solution for the region", stated Mrs Fontaine, recalling that the Helsinki Summit recognised Turkey's status as an applicant state and adding that this country should therefore show a "real will to improve the human rights situation".