Berlin says Turkey should resume peace process with Kurds
Iran Press TV
Wed Jul 29, 2015 5:59PM
Berlin says German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the president of Iraq's Kurdistan regional government, Massoud Barzani, agree that Turkey should continue a peace process with Kurds despite a rise in violence.
An unnamed German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said the two sides spoke by phone on Wednesday.
The spokeswoman said the German and Kurdish officials 'agreed that the [Kurdistan Workers' Party] PKK and Turkey must resume the peace process, and that an escalation only serves the extremists.'
She added that representatives from both sides would soon hold talks over the matter in the Turkish capital, Ankara.
Last week, Ankara started airstrikes allegedly against positions of the Takfiri ISIL terrorists in northern Syria and the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in Iraq.
The airstrikes followed a deadly bombing on July 20 in the Turkish border town of Suruc, which killed 32 people. Turkey blamed ISIL for the blast.
In addition, since the bombing in Suruc, a number of Turkish policemen and soldiers have been killed in attacks attributed by Turkish media and government to the PKK.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel had voiced support for the continuation of the peace process during recent talks with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
On July 28, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country could not continue the peace process with the Kurds over security concerns.
Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition group HDP has accused Erdogan of ordering the attacks in the wake of the PKK's strong performance in the June 7 parliamentary elections.
The PKK, which seeks to gain self-rule, has been engaged in militancy in southeastern Turkey for decades.
A shaky ceasefire that had stood since 2013 was declared as null by the PKK following the Turkish airstrikes against the group, narrowing chances of the two sides reaching a deal any time soon.
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