Russian Kurds deny existence of guerrilla camps, slam media coverage 

 MOSCOW, Aug 8 (AFP)  Various Kurdish public groups denied Tuesday the existence
 of a training camp for Kurdish fighters near Russia's northern city of Yaroslavl, and denounced
 the Russian media for circulating reports of it.

 The information on the camp had been fabricated by Turkey's special services and fed to the
 media, said Sharaf Ashirian, leader of the Federal National-Cultural Autonomy group.

 "The mass media have forgotten the presumption of innocence principle and circulated
 information they did not verify," Ashirian said as quoted by the Interfax news agency.

 Russian media had reported the police's discovery of the training camp earlier this week, and
 national broadcasters ORT, RTR and NTV had shown footage of the camp and Turkish nationals
 allegedly imprisoned there.

 The training camp, located at a summer vacation camp, had been set up with the assistance of
 its boss, a Kurdish Syrian national whom police have arrested, according to police officials
 quoted by news agencies. 

 Police said they discovered the camp in the course of an investigation into the kidnapping of a
 Syrian businessman a week ago. The camp reportedly served as a base for kidnapping
 operations aimed at Turkish, Iraqi and Syrian nationals based in Russia. 

 However, Kurdish representatives said the summer camp had only been used as a cultural
 center and had been frequented by reporters from all countries, including Turkey.

 The Turkish authorities have long claimed that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is
 waging a long-running insurgency in the east of the country, has training facilities in Russia. 
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