"PKK terrorism costs Turkey over $300 bln"

"Had Turkey not been in a position to deal with the terror problem, we would have been able to create 10 GAPs," Cicek said.

"We discussed the issue of Cyprus today. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and several ministers were in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) to attend the celebrations on the occasion of Cyprus Peace Operation. We had evaluations made with officials from the TRNC," Cicek said.

"The year 2008 is important from a perspective of negotiations in Cyprus. New contacts and meetings began in Cyprus following the elections in southern Cyprus,"he also said.

Cicek said he does "not understand what the DTP implied and what is behind this statement", when asked about recent comments made by new co-chairs of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) Ahmet Turk and Emine Ayna that "guns should be given up in finding a solution to the Kurdish problem".

"As we talk, Turkish security forces continue to stage operations in various parts of Turkey. Just a few days before such comments were made by the DTP, Turkish security forces and soldiers were killed by the terrorist organization," he added.Â

We have to understand that no group can gain anything by resorting to violence, Cicek said.

"We know how much Turkey have lost due to terrorist activities. Our citizens in south-east Anatolia are the ones who have been deeply affected and hurt by the terrorist organization. Turkey lost over $300 billion in its fight against terrorists. Had Turkey not been subjected to terrorist activities, Turkey could have erected 10 GAPs. Turkey's national income could have doubled if there was no terror. 3,800,000 Turkish citizens in southeast Anatolia would have been employed had there been no terror," he also said.