Turkish gov’t seeks permanent truce declaration from PKK: Minister

Nuray BABACAN ANKARA

Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala says there will be no step back from public order and that instructions have been delivered to all local administrations. AA Photo

Interior Minister Efkan Ala gave a detailed briefing to Cabinet members on the ongoing Kurdish peace process at the last Cabinet meeting, where he assured ministers that the process will continue under full public order with the expectation of a permanent truce in the coming months.

During the meeting, cabinet ministers questioned the ongoing peace process, particularly claims that security forces were remaining indifferent to some criminal acts of the sympathizers of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for the sake of the process. Ala informed the ministers that there has been a decrease in the number of crimes committed in the southeastern Anatolian region thanks to security measures taken in the aftermath of the Oct. 6-7 incidents.

He also stressed that more than 1,000 people have been detained from the urban wing of the PKK and those who were responsible for these incidents have been brought before the court. There will be no step back from public order and the necessary instructions have been delivered to all local administrations in order to break the perception that public order was ruined in the southeastern Anatolian region. 

The two important issues discussed by the ministers were keeping public order through the peace process and the PKK’s declaration that it won’t use weapons against Turkey. Ministers have agreed the government’s message that it won’t tolerate the ruining of public order was understood by the PKK and its imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan.

According to prominent officials from the Justice and Development Party (AKP), daily statements from the parties conducting negotiations have a political purpose, and there is no need to stick to them. “What is important is the fact that talks [between Öcalan and state officials] continue. There is no problem in the dialogue between Öcalan and the MİT [National Intelligence Organization]. Decisions made in regards to this process are important. A declaration that the PKK will no longer use weapons against Turkey can be made at Nevroz fest [in late March] at the latest, or even earlier,” some AKP officials said.  

On discussions that negotiations also include “autonomy” for the Kurds, AKP officials recalled that what is referred to as autonomy was in fact the Council of Europe Charter of Local Self-Government, on which Turkey has reservations on its 11 articles. Officials stressed the contents of many reserved articles have already been put in practice in Turkey, but official withdrawal of these reservations can only be done when the right times comes.