Turkish PM : ‘Lay down arms’

The PM calls on the PKK to lay down its arms and go elsewhere in the wake of an attack that kills eight troops as the military kills 18 militants

Ankara was in a state of alarm yesterday following an attack by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) on Turkish troops along the Iraqi border, with many suggesting the assault was designed to sabotage ongoing efforts to find a political solution to the Kurdish question.

“The terror organization wants to sabotage the atmosphere of trust and stability and is continuing its bloody attacks at a moment when efforts are being exerted to strengthen social peace and resolve problems,” President Abdullah Gül said in a written statement yesterday. Underlining that the attack was aimed at debilitating the will to solve the problem, Gül said, “I curse this treacherous attack.”

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is currently in Mexico for the G-20 summit, renewed his calls for the PKK to lay down its weapons and added that his government had never negotiated with the terrorists and would never do so. “We’ll sooner or later solve this issue. … Our sole concern is to establish peace and stability in our country,” he told reporters. Erdogan said the only way forward for the “terrorists is to lay down arms.”

“After that will they go to different countries, such practices have been tried before, they are welcome to go,” the prime minister said, adding that Turkey would not, and could not, allow such operations to continue.


/Hurriyet Daily News/