TWO EU, GERMAN PARLIAMENTARIANS VISIT CIZRE, URGE TALKS
Sirnak, 3 Dhulhijjah 1436/17 September 2015 (MINA) – Two members of the European and German parliaments have called for negotiations between the Turkish government and PKK organization in the interest of peace in Turkey.
The call was made amid the stalled “solution process” over the organization PKK’s renewed armed campaign against Turkish security forces, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
“Peace processes are slow processes all over the world. However, the solution is found not in weapons, but in politics,” co-chair of The Greens–European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament, Rebecca Harms, told reporters in the southeastern Turkish district of Cizre Tuesday.
Harms’ visit came after a curfew imposed in the district was lifted on Monday.
This was the second curfew imposed in Cizre since Saturday, where security operations against PKK were ongoing.
The first one, which lasted eight days, ended at 7 a.m., local time (0400GMT) Saturday — less than 36 hours before the second one was imposed.
Harms said that it was essential to go back to the negotiation table, calling for a “silencing of weapons”.
Co-chairman of the German political party Alliance ’90/The Greens, Cem Ozdemir, said that the upcoming Eid al-Adha – the feast of sacrifice that starts next Thursday in Turkey- was a “good opportunity” for this.
“The logical thing to do is for weapons to be silenced immediately. We have got a holiday coming up, which is a good opportunity for this. I am calling on both sides to get back together and resume the negotiations,” Ozdemir, who is of Turkish origin, said.
He also offered “a third-party observer” to join the talks “since they say there is a trust issue”.
“We are ready and willing to help if there is anything we can do so that no more lives are lost and Turkey is no longer damaged,” he said.
The fighting between the PKK and the Turkish security forces saw a fragile lull for a two-and-a-half year period from early 2013 in what is publicly known as the “solution process” in an attempt to end the conflict. The efforts led by the Turkish government were abandoned in July when the PKK renewed its armed struggle in response to the July 20 Suruc suicide bombing — attributed to Daesh — that killed 33 pro-Kurdish activists.
Four days after Suruc, Turkey launched airstrikes against the PKK in Turkey and northern Iraq and since then, more than 115 members of the security forces have been martyred in the violence while land-and-air operations in Turkey and northern Iraq have killed more than 1,100 terrorists.
In addition, hundreds have been arrested in a crackdown on groups that also include leftist organizations and Daesh.
The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU. (T/P010/R04)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
