Kurdish sources have disputed this verdict and claimed he was framed for the attack by Turkish authorities.

Kurdish sources claim there are as many as 20 or 25 million Kurds in Turkey.

Kurdish sources put the figure at 20 to 25 million Kurds in Turkey.

Eruptions of Nemrut are mentioned in Armenian sources of the 15th century and Kurdish sources of the 16th century.

IRNA did not provide a source for the casualty toll, which is much higher than the "hundreds of dead" given by Kurdish sources.

The unrest spread briefly to Damascus last month, and Kurdish sources have said dozens of people have been caught up in a sweep of arrests.

According to Kurdish sources, the emissaries of the letter were arrested and executed.

However, Kurdish sources allege that many Ansar al-Islam fighters were in fact harbored by Iran.

(Kurdish sources put the number closer to 100,000.)

Some Kurdish sources put the number higher, estimating 182,000 Kurds were killed.