PEACE GROUPS

Prime Minister Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan criticized that the welcoming events for the peace groups that arrived from Mahmur and Kandil (Iraq) were turned into a show. Co-Chair Ahmet Türk of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) replied to the prime minister and government officials as follows:

"As DTP we are neither in need of a show nor are we calculating on political accounts. This is the excitement about peace". Türk declared in yesterday's (22 October) announcement in the DTP Diyarbakır provincial office:

"This was not a show, this was the excitement of the people. Everybody has to understand this excitement well and everybody has to participate in it. The groups came for the peace process. The experienced enthusiasm is the enthusiasm for peace. Also after this we are going to carry on with our work for continuing this process with the Turkish people and political parties. Peace is our only desire. We will channel all our efforts accordingly".

Fourfold investigation against DTP

Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya declared to have launched an investigation against DTP regarding the welcoming events. Yalçınkaya had previously opened a closure case against DTP. A decision in this case is still owed by the Constitutional Court.

The groups entered Turkey on 19 October from the border crossing at Habur and moved on to Silopi and Diyarbakır. Thus, the investigation was launched by altogether four prosecutors, namely from Silopi, Cizre, Nusaybin and Diyarbakır. (TK/VK)