Turkish Government has formally launched a peace plan to try to end the conflict in the mainly Kurdish south-east of the country. Reform package, including freedom to use the Kurdish language. was submitted to Parliament by Interior Minister Beşir Atalay.

"We want everyone in this country to be treated equally," he said, but then warned that there would need to be a complete change in the mindset of the Turkish people to achieve that goal.

But throughout his half-hour speech, Mr Atalay refused to refer specifically to the Kurds, whose resistance to the Turkish state is the real reason for these reforms.

Instead he chose to describe them as primarily for combating terrorism and preserving national unity. The ferocious criticism the government has received over its initiative has clearly made it nervous, despite its commanding majority in parliament.

Turkish nationalists claim that changes pose threat to Turkey's unity. The leader of one nationalist party accused the government of lacking the courage to fight terrorism head-on, BBC reports.

Kurdish minority's fight for independence has lasted 30 years, taking lives of more than 40 thousand people.