ailed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan hailed the Gezi protests against government’s reconstruction plan at Gezi Parkı in İstanbul, but warned against attempts of ultranationalists and Ergenekon supporters among protesters to hijack the event.
Two deputies from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) travelled to the island of İmralı on Friday to meet with the jailed PKK leader as part of ongoing talks aimed at resolving Turkey's long-standing conflict in the Southeast.
BDP Co-chairman Selahattin Demirtaş and the BDP parliamentary group deputy chairwoman, Pervin Buldan, set off for İmralı early on Friday from İstanbul.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference after returning to İstanbul, two deputies expressed their concerns over the government’s possible intervention over deciding who could be included in the delegation for visits to İmralı island.
In a message read out by Demirtaş, Öcalan said he views Gezi Parkı protests as meaningful and important. However, he said, democrats, revolutionaries, compatriots and progressive circles should not let Ergenekon supporters and ultranationalists dominate and lead the protests.
In response to a question whether BDP Deputy Sırrı Süreyya Önder was blocked by government because of his leading role in Taksim protests, Demirtaş said government should not intervene in the process of making the party’s delegation.
Önder took part in many visits to the island as part of the BDP delegation in the past. His absence in the delegation in the latest visit was interpreted in the media as government’s dismissal.
Justice minister and the prime minister have the final say over who could take part in the BDP delegation for visits to İmralı island.
Öcalan said in his message that he has been doing his best on his behalf to resolve the decades-old Kurdish conflict, adding that the ball is in the government’s court.
This is the sixth delegation traveling to İmralı to meet with Öcalan as part of the government-sponsored settlement process. The first meeting between Öcalan and Kurdish politicians as part of the negotiations took place on Jan. 4 when Mardin independent deputy Ahmet Türk and BDP deputy Ayla Akat Ata visited İmralı.
As part of the process, Öcalan called on PKK forces for a cease-fire and withdrawal from Turkey in a historic call on March 21.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and much of the international community, has waged a bloody campaign for self-rule in predominantly Kurdish southeast Anatolia since 1984. More than 40,000 people, including civilians and security forces, have been killed in clashes with the terrorist group.
Öcalan, imprisoned on İmralı Island in the Sea of Marmara, south of İstanbul, since his capture in 1999, has significant influence among PKK members and supporters. The Turkish state believes that talks with the terrorist leader may result in PKK terrorists' eventual laying down of weapons.
http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_g ... sId=317630
Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 8:36 pm