text: Kurd rebels to free Turkish soldier prisoners . DOHUK , Iraq 1996-08-23 Turkish Kurd guerrillas said on Friday they would free seven Turkish soldiers they hold in northern Iraq under a tentative Islamist peace bid . " ...For the sake of safety we are asking for their family members or the authorities to come and pick them up , " Kurdistan Workers Party ( PKK ) central committee member Riza Altun told journalists near the Iraqi city of Dohuk . PKK guerrillas would accompany the soldiers , captured last spring in one of Turkey 's frequent cross-border drives , until they could be handed over , he said . Their release has been negotiated by Islamist writer Ismail Nacar as part of a wider effort , partly backed by Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan , to find a political solution to Turkey 's Kurdish problem . Erbakan has encouraged Nacar 's bid but has ruled out direct talks with the rebels . The PKK often uses bases in northern Iraq in its fight for autonomy or independence in southeast Turkey . More than 20,000 people have died in 12 years of fighting between the guerrillas and Turkish forces .