’Visit not related to Kurdish issue’
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 13, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Opposition leader Deniz Baykal says his visit to Baghdad should not be seen in relation to Turkey’s Kurdish problem and that Iraq is not an interlocutor in this issue. ’Turkey’s own problems will not be on the agenda. These are problems we should discuss internally.’
There is no relationship between the proposed visit to Baghdad to meet Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Turkey’s Kurdish issue, the leader of the opposition Republican People’s Party, or the CHP, said yesterday.
"We will go to Baghdad to contribute to the friendship between Turkey and Iraq," Deniz Baykal said in an interview with the private TV channel NTV.
Claiming that the Iraqi leader previously avoided cooperation to fight the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or the PKK, in the past, Baykal said Talabani has changed this stance.
Talabani does not want to have the PKK hijack relations, according to Baykal, who said he was pleased to see the change in the approach towards the PKK.
"We want to be friends with Iraq. We will go to Baghdad to see how we, as the opposition, can contribute to this friendship," he said.
He added that this visit should not be seen in relation to Turkey’s Kurdish problem. "Iraq is not an interlocutor in Turkey’s Kurdish problem," Baykal said.
Talabani is an Iraqi Kurd and he is known to have called for a general amnesty to solve the Kurdish problem in Turkey. "Turkey’s own problems will not be on the agenda. These are problems we should discuss internally," Baykal said.
The CHP advocates that everyone should be able to express his or her ethnic identity, Baykal said. "Everyone should be free to learn and use his mother language," he said. The CHP is in favor of lifting any restrictions on the use of a mother tongue, he said, adding that legal changes were sometimes not reflected through implementation. "But these steps should not separate us but unite us," he said.
Criticizing the German foreign minister
Baykal criticized German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier’s criticism of the CHP, calling his statement, "unfortunate." Emphasizing that the statements are personal, Baykal said, "I hope this is not the stance of German institutions, including the Foreign Ministry."
He called Steinmeier’s statements "empty, and full of clich." The German official’s statements run contrary to the realities, Baykal said, adding that his party’s stance on the European Union, democracy and human rights were well known.
Steinmeier said last week that it was difficult to understand the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP’s, attitude against the European Union, domestic reform process and expanding the borders of freedom of thought in Turkey. Talking to Milliyet columnist Hasan Cemal, Steinmeier, the foreign minister of Germany and head of the German Social Democrat Party, or SPD, said there have been some changes in the CHP in the last six or seven years.
"We will go to Baghdad to contribute to the friendship between Turkey and Iraq," Deniz Baykal said in an interview with the private TV channel NTV.
Claiming that the Iraqi leader previously avoided cooperation to fight the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or the PKK, in the past, Baykal said Talabani has changed this stance.
Talabani does not want to have the PKK hijack relations, according to Baykal, who said he was pleased to see the change in the approach towards the PKK.
"We want to be friends with Iraq. We will go to Baghdad to see how we, as the opposition, can contribute to this friendship," he said.
He added that this visit should not be seen in relation to Turkey’s Kurdish problem. "Iraq is not an interlocutor in Turkey’s Kurdish problem," Baykal said.
Talabani is an Iraqi Kurd and he is known to have called for a general amnesty to solve the Kurdish problem in Turkey. "Turkey’s own problems will not be on the agenda. These are problems we should discuss internally," Baykal said.
The CHP advocates that everyone should be able to express his or her ethnic identity, Baykal said. "Everyone should be free to learn and use his mother language," he said. The CHP is in favor of lifting any restrictions on the use of a mother tongue, he said, adding that legal changes were sometimes not reflected through implementation. "But these steps should not separate us but unite us," he said.
Criticizing the German foreign minister
Baykal criticized German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier’s criticism of the CHP, calling his statement, "unfortunate." Emphasizing that the statements are personal, Baykal said, "I hope this is not the stance of German institutions, including the Foreign Ministry."
He called Steinmeier’s statements "empty, and full of clich." The German official’s statements run contrary to the realities, Baykal said, adding that his party’s stance on the European Union, democracy and human rights were well known.
Steinmeier said last week that it was difficult to understand the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP’s, attitude against the European Union, domestic reform process and expanding the borders of freedom of thought in Turkey. Talking to Milliyet columnist Hasan Cemal, Steinmeier, the foreign minister of Germany and head of the German Social Democrat Party, or SPD, said there have been some changes in the CHP in the last six or seven years.