Kurdish issue can be solved in non-partisan way, Çiçek says

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Members of the Constitution Conciliation Commission, led by Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek (2nd L), Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş (3rd L) and Gültan Kışanak (1st L) on June 19 in the Parliament. AA photo

The charter-making process could set an example for the country’s efforts to solve the Kurdish question as it is the only mechanism in which all four parliamentary parties are represented and working together smoothly, the parliamentary speaker has said.

 “We have to acknowledge this terror problem as a state matter just like Spain and the United Kingdom did in the past. Then we have to consider it in a non-partisan way,” Parliamentary Speaker Cemil Çiçek told the private Kanaltürk channel on June 22.

Noting that Spanish political parties signed a memorandum assuring that they would not use the terror issue as a domestic political tool, Çiçek advised Turkish politicians to handle the issue in a calmer way.
 
“At this point, we should draw a line and clear the slate. We should talk about ‘what we can do’ to solve this problem,” he said.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has proposed the establishment of a four-party commission similar to the Constitution Consensus Commission on the Kurdish issue, Çiçek said, indirectly delivering a message to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which has refused to join the CHP’s project.

Despite government members’ statements that there was a suitable international environment for a solution to the Kurdish issue, Çiçek dismissed such notions, saying, “The international situation is not in our favor.” Even Turkey’s closest friends have hesitated to support Turkey in its fight against terrorism, Çiçek said. “The PKK [outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party], with its 8,000 terrorists, could not have survived for the past 30 years if it were not receiving foreign support. I often touch on this dimension and I do it on purpose. This is the core of this issue. If we ignore this, it’s very hard to solve the terror problem.”