* Gul appeals for national unity in speech in southeast
* Security Council rejects calls for Kurdish autonomy
By Simon Cameron-Moore
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Turkish President Abdullah Gul, speaking in the mainly Kurdish southeast, said on Thursday Turkey must recognise linguistic and religious differences among its people yet remain a united country.
Gul called for the raising of democratic standards to tackle the country's ethnic divisions, treading a careful line after the powerful National Security Council issued a strong-worded statement opposing autonomy calls by Kurdish politicians.
"The solution (to Turkey's problems) is to raise democratic standards wholesale," Gul said in a speech in the region's main city of Diyarbakir, where residents gave him roses and a traditional Kurdish headscarf on his arrival.
"Different languages are spoken, there are sociological and religious differences, but all are citizens of the Turkish Republic, we are all one together."
The Kurdish problem has flared up at an important period for Turkey, with an election due in June, as well as for the wider Kurdish issue involving eastern neighbours with sizable ethnic Kurd minorities -- Iran, Iraq and Syria.
U.S. forces are due to withdraw from Iraq in 2011, raising risks of a new ethnic strife that could destabilise the mainly Kurdish, oil-rich north of Iraq. [ID:nN18121465]
Kurdish militants, fighting for greater autonomy, have waged a guerrilla war against Turkey since the 1980s. About 40,000 people have been killed, most of them supporters of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Violence has subsided and the PKK has promised a unilateral ceasefire till June, when Turkey goes to the polls.
TIES WITH NORTHERN IRAQ
Most militant attacks in eastern Turkey are launched from PKK bases in the Qandil mountains of northern Iraq and the looming U.S. withdrawal from Iraq has encouraged Turkey to speed up efforts to assuage Kurdish demands for greater rights.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government launched an initiative in 2009 to expand rights for Kurds, who make up between 15 and 20 percent of Turkey's 73 million population.
The initiative is focused on cultural and language reforms, but progress has been hampered because of political opposition from die-hard nationalists and ordinary Turks. Kurdish politicians have also called for political reforms.
This month a pro-Kurdish political group met in Diyarbakir and issued a draft proposal for Kurdish autonomy and there have been calls to boost the use of Kurdish in Turkey.
Prosecutors launched an inquiry into the proposal and the National Security Council's regular statement after its meeting on Thursday reiterated its fierce opposition to such moves.
"No attempt to change Turkish as the official language of the Turkish Republic, the principle of 'one flag, one nation, one country, one state' will be accepted," the statement said. (Writing by Daren Butler and Simon Cameron-Moore; editing by Andrew Dobbie)
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