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Barzani: we are ready to resume PKK-Turkey peace efforts
Sunday, 09 August, 2015
In comments on an ongoing conflict between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said Sunday that problems cannot be solved by violence and offered renewed efforts for peace.
“Conflict and violence will never resolve problems but make them more complicated,” Barzani said following a meeting with Mohammed Amin Penjweni, a prominent Kurdish political figure with close links to jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.
Penjweni in turn praised Barzani’s role in peace talks between the PKK and Ankara, a process endangered by the recent tensions, according to a statement by Barzani’s office.
“He has had a decisive role in helping both, Turkey and PKK,” Penjweni said about Barzani.
“Nechirvan Barzani should resume efforts in order for both parties to return to the negotiating table and resume the peace process from where it was cut off,” the statement added.
“We will ramp up efforts to stop Turkey-PKK fighting,” Barzani said, according to the statement.
In an earlier announcement late last month, Barzani called on the PKK to reduce tensions with Turkey and resume its peace process, following Turkish raids on the militants’ bases in the Kurdistan Region.
Barzani had said that Kurdistan was ready to help the two sides resume peace talks. He added that Turkish military attacks on the PKK’s base in Kurdistan’s Qandil Mountains had followed provocative statements made by the group’s leaders.
“Unfortunately, the bombardments followed comments made by the leader of the Group of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK), claiming that the ceasefire and peace process between Turkey and the PKK is terminated,” Barzani had explained in a statement.
Meanwhile on Sunday, Turkey’s Anadolu Agency quoted unidentified security officials as saying that the airstrikes on PKK camps in Kurdistan 390 members of the militant group and injured 400.
Tensions in Turkey escalated after the PKK claimed responsibility for assassinating two policemen in Gaziantep last month, ending the shaky peace process with Ankara that began in 2013.
The latest hostilities have brought that peace process to a halt.
A fortnight ago, Turkish air force jets and artillery began a hail of attacks against the PKK, including airstrikes and artillery fire on PKK camps in the Kurdistan Region’s Qandil Mountains.
The airstrikes coincided with nationwide raids inside Turkey and serious confrontations between Kurdish activists and the Turkish police.
Ocalan has reportedly called on his group and the Turkish government to end ongoing clashes and resume negotiations, which were planned to lead to permanent peace in the country.
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Sunday, 09 August, 2015
In comments on an ongoing conflict between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said Sunday that problems cannot be solved by violence and offered renewed efforts for peace.
“Conflict and violence will never resolve problems but make them more complicated,” Barzani said following a meeting with Mohammed Amin Penjweni, a prominent Kurdish political figure with close links to jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.
Penjweni in turn praised Barzani’s role in peace talks between the PKK and Ankara, a process endangered by the recent tensions, according to a statement by Barzani’s office.
“He has had a decisive role in helping both, Turkey and PKK,” Penjweni said about Barzani.
“Nechirvan Barzani should resume efforts in order for both parties to return to the negotiating table and resume the peace process from where it was cut off,” the statement added.
“We will ramp up efforts to stop Turkey-PKK fighting,” Barzani said, according to the statement.
In an earlier announcement late last month, Barzani called on the PKK to reduce tensions with Turkey and resume its peace process, following Turkish raids on the militants’ bases in the Kurdistan Region.
Barzani had said that Kurdistan was ready to help the two sides resume peace talks. He added that Turkish military attacks on the PKK’s base in Kurdistan’s Qandil Mountains had followed provocative statements made by the group’s leaders.
“Unfortunately, the bombardments followed comments made by the leader of the Group of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK), claiming that the ceasefire and peace process between Turkey and the PKK is terminated,” Barzani had explained in a statement.
Meanwhile on Sunday, Turkey’s Anadolu Agency quoted unidentified security officials as saying that the airstrikes on PKK camps in Kurdistan 390 members of the militant group and injured 400.
Tensions in Turkey escalated after the PKK claimed responsibility for assassinating two policemen in Gaziantep last month, ending the shaky peace process with Ankara that began in 2013.
The latest hostilities have brought that peace process to a halt.
A fortnight ago, Turkish air force jets and artillery began a hail of attacks against the PKK, including airstrikes and artillery fire on PKK camps in the Kurdistan Region’s Qandil Mountains.
The airstrikes coincided with nationwide raids inside Turkey and serious confrontations between Kurdish activists and the Turkish police.
Ocalan has reportedly called on his group and the Turkish government to end ongoing clashes and resume negotiations, which were planned to lead to permanent peace in the country.
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