Pro-Kurdish deputy welcomes Gülen’s support for peace talks

Ahmet Türk
Ahmet Türk


Date posted: January 9, 2013

Pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) deputy Ahmet Türk has welcomed support of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen for the peace talks between the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the government. “View of Fethullah Gülen [on peace talks] is reasonable, welcoming,” Türk told CNN Türk TV channel in an interview on Wednesday, adding that he carefully followed his statement.

In his latest weekly speech, broadcast on website Herkul.org last Sunday, Gülen said as long as national dignity and pride are not undermined, every necessary step should be taken to maintain peace because “there are benefits in peace.”

Türk, who also visited Öcalan last week as part of the peace talks, said in the interview that Gülen was stressing the fact that “we should accept who we are” and lauded his messages of tolerance in his speech. He said he found his remarks “positive.”

State officials and Öcalan have been having talks to broker a deal for the disarming of the terrorist group. The talks with Öcalan are being carried out by National Intelligence Organization (MİT) head Hakan Fidan, whose position as a negotiator on behalf of the Turkish state has been confirmed by the government.

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-populated southeastern 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 Marmara Sea south of İstanbul since his capture in 1999, has significant influence among PKK members and supporters. The Turkish state believes talks with the terrorist head may lead to a timetable for withdrawal of PKK terrorists from Turkey and the eventual laying down of arms.

There is support for the peace talks from many circles in society including the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and Turkey’s mainstream media.

Öcalan holds key to solution

In the interview, Türk also said its Öcalan who is holding the key to the solution of the Kurdish issue rather than his party, which is largely viewed as a political offshoot of the terrorist organization by the authorities.

Amid debates that Öcalan might be not influential enough in calling the shots during peace talks between him and the state officials, Türk’s position was assuring: İmralı’s position has the capability to realize the solution. The Kurdish deputy was referring to the island of İmralı, where Öcalan has been jailed since 1999.

Türk also recalled that his party members were criticized when they pointed to Öcalan as the chief actor who should be heeded as a party in peace talks. “Abdullah Öcalan is the one who is deciding. We are not decision-makers,” Türk stressed.

Türk also said he is in favor of open talks and that secret talks would not yield healthy results.

Speaking about investigation into the Kurdistan Communities’ Union (KCK), an urban branch of the PKK, Türk said authorities have rounded up nearly 10,000 civilians, most of whom are not related to the KCK. He said Öcalan also raised similar concerns during their talks.

In Niger’s capital Niamey, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at a news conference that PKK terrorists should withdraw forces from Turkish territory and disarm. Türk said he prefers truce before any deal to disarm. He said possible truce between the two warring parties would create a positive atmosphere to further explore peace projects. When asked what Öcalan thinks on the first stage of the peace process, Türk said the PKK leader would most likely think the same thing.

He also said he is concerned over Erdoğan’s position, claiming that he is flipping and flopping in his statements.

Source: Today’s Zaman January 9, 2013


Related News

Criticism rains down on gov’t for insisting on closing prep schools

In the meantime, BDP Co-chairman Selahattin Demirtaş struck a similar tone to the prime minister regarding the prep schools’ closure, saying that prep courses must be shut down. Demirtaş said the closure is a political as well as commercial issue, casting doubts on the government’s desire but expressing his approval at shutting down prep schools.

Should We Send A Man We Know Is Innocent To His Death Abroad?

Wow…realpolitik will take precedence. It’s okay to send Gulen to his death. What do we care about the execution of a Muslim cleric who paid for full-page ads in the New York Times to condemn 9/11 attacks, the Charlie Hebdo attacks, and ISIS, forged ties between Jews, Christians and Muslims, who came to America because of our freedoms, and will honor our request, putting his fate in God’s hands, and our own. And why do we care that he goes to his death at the hands of a man who had good things to say about Hitler’s system of government.

Indialogue Essay Contest on “Culture of Living Together”

The purpose of this program is to contribute to the understanding and the promotion of culture of living together among the diverse members of our society, from peers, to strangers, to adults, to figures of authority. The diversity of cultures and ethnicities of our city and our schools provide a unique opportunity for participants to demonstrate their visual expression of how best to achieve positive results in this area.

Saudi Scholar al-Qarni: Gulen serves with wisdom

One of the most celebrated scholars of Saudi Arabia and the Arab world at large, Sheikh Aaidh al-Qarni delivered sermons on “Tabi’in” (a referral to the people who lived in an age right after the Prophet Muhammad’s companions’ generation) at several salatin mosques (mosques built by Ottoman sultans) in Istanbul, on June 1 thru 9. […]

Abant Platform discusses thriving relations between Turkey and Africa

SEVGİ AKARÇEŞME, ABANT The unprecedented level of interaction between Turkey and Africa was the dominant theme of the 29th meeting of the Abant Platform on Friday, which convened with the theme of Africa in Abant, Bolu. Participants from Turkey and Africa in the fields of academia, politics and the media agreed that mutual understanding is […]

Turkey targets the Gulen family

Turkish police detained Fethullah Gulen’s brother on Sunday. Fethullah is one of five siblings. He has three brothers – Mesih, Salih, and Kutbettin – and two sisters, Nurhayat and Fazilet. Turkey accuses the preacher of organizing the July 15 coup attempt. His organization denies any involvement in the coup.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Turkish schools issue [in Pakistan] still to be resolved

‘Turkish people not silly to believe slanderous news about Gülen’

The Preventive Role of Culture in Women’s Empowerment: Possibilities and Challenges

Explained the secret: Gulen gave it as a gift

Nearly 2,500 turn up for International Language and Culture Festival in Thailand

Pak-Turk International Schools Foundation-Stone Laying Ceremony

CHP deputy asks PM to stop arrest of women after giving birth

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News