Security bill to secure Kurdish peace bid: Turkish President Erdoğan

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addresses the 4th Council of Tradesmen and Artisans in Ankara on Nov. 26.

The controversial new security bill will "secure the fate of the resolution process," President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, while also repeating that there is no room for any kind of bargaining along this process.

“Neither the terror threat, nor the threat of creating turmoil on the streets or barbarically committed murders can harm Turkey’s direction. After the judiciary-security package that is currently being drafted goes into force, this situation will be secured,” Erdoğan said in his address to the 4th Council of Tradesmen and Artisans in Ankara on Nov. 26.

His remarks come as Parliament is set to discuss the controversial draft that empowers police and other security forces with broad authorities. The opposition accuses the government of turning the country into a police state.

Erdoğan, however, defended the move by recalling the incidents that occurred on Oct. 6-7 in which nearly 50 people were killed as a result of massive protests against the government, sparked by its perceived inaction over the advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on the Kurdish-populated town of Kobane in northern Syria.

The president repeated his claim that the October incidents were a "provocation" orchestrated by a “superior mind” that aims to nix Turkey’s efforts to resolve the Kurdish problem.

Calling on tradesmen and artisans not to believe "rumors and speculations" over the Kurdish peace process, Erdoğan reassured that they were "neither negotiating nor making concessions" as part of the ongoing talks.

“The frame and limits of this process are well-known. This is not a negotiation or a give-and-take exercise. I have always said: Weapons will be dropped and the problem will be resolved through dialogue and along a political basis. Apart from this, the Republic of Turkey will never allow any other way," he added.

Running, sweating president

Having stepped up his public appearances in the last few days, Erdoğan repeated that he will continue to be a "running, sweating president."

“The people want to see a running, sweating president and I try to respond to this wish. But this is our same expectation from every political side. Politics that only criticize and issue complaints, not to the people, but to international circles or international media, cannot produce formulas for Turkey’s problems,” he stated.