Wise People report back to Turkish PM after five weeks of meetings

ISTANBUL

The chairs and vice-chairs of the seven sub-groups that are travelling the seven geographical regions of Turkey met with Erdoğan at his Istanbul office May 9.

The Wise Persons commission established to gather public support to the ongoing Kurdish peace process has given its first report to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, after five weeks of work. 

The chairs and vice-chairs of the seven sub-groups that are travelling the seven geographical regions of Turkey met with Erdoğan at his Istanbul office May 9 and shared their impressions on the level of support regarding the process. The meeting lasted over four hours.

Academic Mithat Sancar, vice-chair of the Marmara region sub-group, told reporters before the meeting that they were intending to make a preliminary evaluation of the commission's work. "The prime minister probably has things to tell us, but we also have many things to share with him," he said.

Yusuf Hakyemez, who is chairing the Black Sea sub-group, claimed that the reactions were generally positive. "In the Black Sea region there has been a similar trend to the surveys published by the prime minister [indicating 70 percent public support]. We don't invite those who could sabotage the meetings, but we do collect all the points of view, both positive and negative," he said.

For his part, the chair of the Central Anatolia sub-group also said that most of the public was supportive of the process, despite having some concerns. "We are here to transmit all these concerns to the prime minister," he said.

The process recently entered a critical stage, as the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has initiated a pullout of its militants from Turkish soil. The Wise Persons commissions are set to work until the beginning of June, but this period could be extended by the prime minister.