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ANKARA: Baykal asks for clarity on Kurdish, Armenian moves

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  • ANKARA: Baykal asks for clarity on Kurdish, Armenian moves

    Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
    Sept 6 2009

    Baykal asks for clarity on Kurdish, Armenian moves


    Sunday, September 6, 2009
    ANKARA ` Hürriyet Daily News


    The main opposition party has asked the government to clarify the
    motives behind its recent initiatives on the Kurdish issue and
    relations with Armenia and repeated that it would not be a part of
    such moves.

    `Don't count us in. We are not going to be your fellow travelers; you
    have already some other fellows. Bon voyage to you! But I advise you
    to return from this journey as soon as possible,' Deniz Baykal, the
    leader of the Republican People's Party, or CHP, said over the
    weekend.

    Baykal's words were a response to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
    ErdoÄ?an, who has said his party would knock on the CHP's doors
    if it does not consent to meet.

    `The government's move is putting Turkey under the pressure of an
    ethnic identity. However, the majority of our citizens of Kurdish
    origin have no problem being part of the national identity,' Baykal
    said.

    Arguing that as a result of the government's approach to the issue, a
    minority group that is focused on dissociation rather than integration
    with the rest of the country has been accepted as speaking for all
    Kurds, Baykal said: `This point is disturbing both Kurds and Turks. On
    purpose or not, they are doing wrong.'

    According to the CHP leader, the government's Kurdish move has nothing
    to do with the democratization of the country. `You cannot stop
    terrorism through encouraging dissociation. That, in fact, would
    encourage the terror,' he said, adding that negotiating with those who
    seek separation would bring nothing but more problems.

    Baykal also argued that the government is, in fact, aware of the road
    map produced by Abdullah Ã-calan, the imprisoned leader of the
    outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, but cannot make it public
    due to the growing reactions. `With this government's move, Ã-calan
    has become a political figure. The DTP [or pro-Kurdish Democratic
    Society Party] says that the real interlocutor is Ã-calan,' he
    said.

    Questions on Armenian move

    The CHP leader also expressed reservations about the government's
    Armenian move. Noting that the protocols aiming at normalizing
    relations between Turkey and Armenia were initialized April 2, just
    days before U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Turkey, Baykal said
    he had asked President Abdullah Gül whether the two had raised
    the issue of protocols during their meeting.

    'I just want to learn. [They were] initialized in April, announced
    now. ¦ It has not been written down, but the Americans are in
    expectation [of the signing of protocols],' he said. `The president
    will make a statement either to confirm or to deny.'

    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=b aykal-asks-clarity-on-kurdish-armenian-moves-2009- 09-06
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