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Dialogue between Turkey and the Kurdish movement backed by the Council of Europe
23/06/2009
Secretary General of the CoE puts the Northern Ireland peace process and the Basque Country as examples, and says that 'dialogue is the only option' · Pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party members meet European ambassadors, while the Turkish premier refuses to meet DTP leaders.
Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, has argued today in favour of a negotiated settlement for the Kurdish conflict in Turkey. The European leader has defended that Turkish authorities should negotiate with Kurdish officials. Davis pointed at two other European conflicts -Northern Ireland and the Basque Country- as examples in which there have been negotiations between the State and pro-independence leaders.
When asked by a Turkish journalist whether he was in favour of holding talks with PKK, Davis replied that "this would be illogical", since the organization is considered a terrorist group by most of European States. However, he added that many other counterparts could be found within the Kurdish pro-independence movement.
Such is the case of the Democratic Society Party (DTP), the main Kurdish political party in Northern Kurdistan and the only one holding seats in the Turkish Parliament. DTP officials are meeting European ambassadors to Ankara on Wednesday to tell them that "all sides [of the conflict] should be making good use of a cease-fire declared by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)", Today's Zaman reports.
Ahmet Türk and other DTP officials will also explain the ambassadors the refusal by the Turkish prime minister to receive them. The Kurdish party has been unsuccessfully expecting for the last days a response to their demand of having an appointment with the Turkish leader. Negative responses are detrimental to the peace process, they claim.
Further information:
- Firat: AK: Türkiye Kürtlerle diyalog kurmalı (automatic translation in English, here)
- Today's Zaman: DTP members rejected by PM to be received by EU ambassadors
Kurdistan/Kurdistan
General information
Population: between 30 and 40 million inhabitants
Area: 350,000 to 500,000 km²
Institutions: Only the Kurdish Autonomous Region, inside Iraq
State administration: Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syriad
Major cities: Mûsil (Mosul), Hewlêr (Arbil) and Kerkûk (Kirkuk), Amed (Diyarbakir), Bedlîs (Bitlis), Kirmaşan (Kermanshah), Sine (Sanandaj) Mehabad (Mahabad) and Qamişlo (Al Qamishli)
Territorial language: Kurdish
Official language: Turkish (Turkey), Kurdish and Arabic (Iraq), Persan (Iran) and Arabic (Syria)
National Day: 21st March (Norouz Day)
Major religion: Islam, with some Christian and Yezidi minorities
