Militants should feel part of PKK talks: MP

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

The reasons that send PKK militants to the mountains should be eliminated, and the ground should be prepared for their return, says MP Ensarioğlu. DHA photo

Members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) should be made to feel like they are contributing to resolving the Kurdish issue by returning from their mountain camps, a Kurdish deputy from the ruling party has said.

“There is a procedure for laying down arms; you cannot just tell them [PKK members] ‘leave your arms.’ Most of these people left their homes for the mountains and they were not involved in any crimes before that. When they come down from the mountains, they should be able to say: ‘We contributed to the resolution of the problem. We are ending the process of the armed struggle,’” Justice and Development Party (AKP) Diyarbakır deputy Galip Ensarioğlu told the Hürriyet Daily News yesterday.

“Every single sentence should be used carefully during this process. Both the reasons for them going to the mountains should be eliminated and the grounds should be prepared for their return, so that they do not feel that they have ‘fought for nothing,’” he said, adding that society’s sensitivities should also be taken into consideration during the process.

Although Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan strictly ruled out a general amnesty for PKK members, or the possibility of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan being released from İmralı island and placed under house arrest, Ensarioğlu assumed a more nuanced approach on the issue.