On the Eve of Elections Turkey Does not Want to Spoil Relations with PKK

• 02.12.2015, 16:50
•  Region,  World

The co-chair of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Figen Yüksekdağ in a talk with reporters in parliament said that he expects the government to start negotiations with Kurdistan Workers’ Party, Hurriyet reports.  Yüksekdağ mentioned that despite the existing legal framework of the negotiations, the Turkish government should release "ill prisoners". "Öcalan has been trying to put the solution on track before the elections. I hope the government will act accordingly and overcome the problems," – he said.

The co-chair of HDP also declared that the government and his party are expecting to make a joint statement marking the re-launch of the negotiations between PKK and Turkey. As Hurriyet writes, the joint statement is expected to be made on February 15, on the anniversary of Öcalan’s arrest. However, this date is not officially confirmed.

In his turn the Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç declared that the government will go ahead with its initiative to put an end to the Kurdish problem in the country. "We show great determination for the continuation and success of this process," Arınç said, Today’s Zaman reports.

The new round of negotiations between the PKK and Turkey started in 2012. Despite the ongoing negotiations during these years clashes between the Kurdish groups and Turkish security forces continued and as a result quite a lot of people were killed. In 2014 a legal framework of the negotiations was set up, according to which 11 commissions were established to deal with the next steps of the process. Besides, Kurdish language was allowed to be taught in schools.

However, we should not be naïve and think that all these steps by the Turkish government are just a "present" to the Kurdish people. Now Turkey faces the threat of the "Islamic State" and additional tense situation in the country, cannot be in its interests. Besides, what is the most important – in 2015 there are upcoming parliamentary elections in Turkey. The results of the elections are very important for Turkey, because if the ruling AKP party receives the majority of the votes than it will be able to do Constitutional changes and change the country into a presidential system. For this reason Turkey needs to show the whole world and first of all to its citizens that Turkey conducts constructive policy.