Peace process ‘turning into a journey of hope’: Turkish PM

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is satisfied with the current course of events in the ongoing peace process. DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin SÖNMEZ

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sounded confident April 16 about the current course of events in the ongoing peace process, as he maintained that the process had already turned into “an extremely resolved journey of hope.” 

The government has been making sincere efforts to resolve deeply rooted problems, Erdoğan said, addressing his ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) parliamentary group.

“The process we named the ‘resolution process’ has really turned into an extremely resolved journey of hope in all of Turkey,” he said, referring to the process aimed at ending the three-decade-old conflict between security forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). 

Erdoğan praised the efforts made so far by members of the Wise Persons’ Commission, which is set to play a central role in a public-relations offensive to support the resolution to the Kurdish issue. 
“The Wise Persons are really displaying very nice work despite cruel criticism by the CHP [main opposition Republican People’s Party] and the MHP [Nationalist Movement Party], their discourse, which amounts to insult, and, in some cities, their shameless provocations,” Erdoğan said. 

Criticism of opposition 

The prime minister slammed MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli’s understanding of nationalism, while belittling the capacity and performance of CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as a political leader. 

Bahçeli, for his part, challenged Erdoğan about forming of a commission to investigate the three-party coalition that was in office between 1999 and 2002 and in which the MHP was a partner.
“Thank God, we have nothing of which we can’t give account concerning the banks under our responsibility,” Bahçeli said and called for investigation of the AKP term as well.

Elsewhere at Parliament, CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu argued that the AKP government was “blackmailing” MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli just because he had been criticizing government policies. 

“Did it occur to you now?” Kılıçdaroğlu asked Erdoğan. “We will never permit blackmail.”CHP deputy parliamentary group chair Akif Hamzaçebi already announced April 15 that they would soon introduce a proposal for a broad parliamentary investigation into corruption claims, without limiting it to a certain period of government, thus including the practices during AKP rule.

Erdoğan, meanwhile, also announced new regulations that would bring advantages to the families of deceased soldiers and veterans as well as families of conscripts in need.