MESOP NEW : FIN DE PARTIE ? GAME OVER ? – WILL IT SPLIT PKK ?

PKK leader Öcalan agreed, a PKK congress will decide in February “to give up armed struggle on Turkish territory.” Selvi also noted that this means the PKK will, given the situation in the Middle East, keep its arms, but will carry out no attacks against Turkey.”

Pro-Kurdish party, gov’t agree to speed up settlement process

HDP lawmakers Sırrı Süreyya Önder (L) İdris Balüken (C) and Pervin Buldan speak to the media after a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Yalçın Akdoğan in Ankara on Monday. November 18, 2014, Monday/ 15:30:12/ TODAY’S ZAMAN / Ankara – The settlement process launched to resolve Turkey’s terrorism problem, which was stalled following violent protests in early October, is back on track, with a delegation from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) expressing optimism on Monday about the process following a meeting with a top government official.

“We can say it was a fruitful meeting,” İdris Baluken, parliamentary group deputy co-chair of the HDP, told reporters following an almost one-hour long meeting. An HDP delegation composed of Baluken, HDP parliamentary group deputy co-chair Pervin Buldan and HDP deputy Sırrı Süreyya Önder met with Yalçın Akdoğan, deputy prime minister in charge of the settlement process, in order to overcome the deadlock in the process. Baluken, who informed reporters on behalf of the HDP delegation following the meeting, said they agreed with the government to keep channels of dialogue open and to speed up the settlement process. The process, which was initiated two years ago and consists of talks between Turkish intelligence and the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), came under great strain when protesters took to the streets in violent demonstrations against an Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) attack on the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani (Ayn al-Arab in Arabic).

The demonstrations were also protesting the government’s refusal to help in the town’s defense. Around 50 people were killed in the protests, which peaked on Oct. 6-7 and were carried out by sympathizers of the PKK upon the call of HDP officials.The government slammed the HDP in the wake of the protests, saying it was responsible for the violence because it called on supporters to take to the streets in solidarity with the Kurdish militants defending the besieged town.

According to media reports on Monday, Akdoğan stressed that public order and inaction on the part of the PKK are necessities for the process to go ahead. When the settlement process became public at the beginning of 2013, the government demanded that the PKK lay down arms and that all PKK members leave Turkey, demands which were not met. Following Monday’s meeting, which came after a meeting of HDP representatives with some government officials last week, the government is expected to allow a delegation of the HDP to meet again with Abdullah Öcalan, jailed leader of the PKK, which is recognized as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU. No date has yet been fixed for a visit with Öcalan, who is in prison on the island of İmralı, but Baluken revealed that the government would not oppose HDP’s visit with the jailed leader.

Noting that they will continue to meet with government officials during the week and that the government will also make an evaluation of the issue on its own, Baluken said: “After these meetings are completed, there will be no obstacle to our visit [with Öcalan] on İmralı. Our delegation is expected to go to İmralı as soon as possible.”

Both the HDP and the government are busy with preparations for negotiations to begin in earnest, after which concrete steps will be taken in the settlement process. “We will come together to share these [preparations],” Baluken said. Baluken signaled that before the negotiations begin in earnest, not only may the number of people to be included in the delegation to visit Öcalan increase, but also a secretariat may be provided for Öcalan, which the jailed has previously requested. According to Baluken: “The government has not expressed any reservations regarding the enlargement of our delegation [to visit Öcalan] or regarding the improvement of the conditions in which Öcalan will be conducting negotiations. And we find this very valuable.”

Baluken also revealed that the government would not say no to the inclusion of certain intellectuals who would serve as a monitoring group for the settlement process. “We support the idea that a monitoring group take part in this process as soon as possible. There is no disagreement between us on this issue.” Akdoğan dismissed the possibility of the involvement of a foreign actor in the process, saying, “This is a homemade process.”

Abdülkadir Selvi, a pro-government columnist for the Yeni Şafak daily, said in his column on Monday that the government has been insistent on two things for the progress of the settlement process. First, public order must be maintained, and those who attempt to disrupt it — as it was the case in the violent protests in October — will be harshly punished. Second, the PKK should completely withdraw from Turkey.

“Historic developments will take place regarding the settlement process in February and March of 2015,” Selvi said, also adding, “If the process is not sabotaged by the US-Kandil alliance.” Kandil is a reference to the PKK headquarters, which is situated in Kandil Mountains in northern Iraq. Selvi maintained that, based on a road map on which the government and PKK leader Öcalan agreed, a PKK congress will decide in February “to give up armed struggle on Turkish territory.” Selvi also noted that this means the PKK will, given the situation in the Middle East, keep its arms, but will carry out no attacks against Turkey. http://www.todayszaman.com/national_pro-kurdish-party-govt-agree-to-speed-up-settlement-process_364573.html