Demirtas: We did not visit Kurdistan Region for PKK-Turkey peace
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Co-chair of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtas over the weekend said his recent visit to the Kurdistan Region was not meant to revive peace talks in Turkey.
The Germany-based pro-Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Yeni Ozgur Politika, newspaper published an interview on Saturday given by Demirtas.
In the interview, the HDP Co-chair said his two meetings with the Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani was for Kurdish unity.
“I needed to talk to Mr. Barzani for the second time after all the meetings. We thought it would be beneficial to relay the result of those meetings to him,” Demirtas stated.
“Like other parties we met with, Mr. Barzani had a positive approach to dialogue as a solution to the problems [Kurds face],” he continued.
A delegation of HDP officials and MPs headed by Demirtas visited the Kurdistan Region on Sep. 21.
The delegation met with President Barzani, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) officials and opposition parties including the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Goran Movement throughout the week.
The visit came in the aftermath of an early September message of peace by PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, imprisoned in Turkey, leading to speculations the HDP was seeking to revive a peace process in Turkey through President Barzani.
Moreover, a statement released by the Kurdistan Region Presidency after the first meeting between President Barzani and the HDP delegation added to the rumors.
The report read that Demirtas asked Barzani “to take a role in the renewal of peace talks” between the PKK and Turkey.
A decades-old conflict between Kurdish guerrillas and the Turkish Army resumed after a 2013-2015 ceasefire and peace negotiations between them collapsed last year.
“All we said was that ensuring and strengthening unity among the Kurds will indirectly impact the resumption of the peace process in Turkey,” Demirtas concluded.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany