Turkish foreign minister: PKK should not be part of Kurdish peace process

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu on Wednesday ruled out that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) should be part of a peace process between Ankara and the country’s large Kurdish minority.

“PKK is in the business of terror, and terrorist groups like PKK should not be part of the peace process,” Sinirlioglu said on the second day of the annual MERI Forum 2015, sponsored by the Erbil-based Middle East Research Institute.

The Turkish government reignited a war with the PKK after the militants claimed responsibility for the deaths of two army officers in late July. The renewed fighting ended a 2013 ceasefire that was meant to resolve a three-decade conflict in which some 40,000 people have been killed.

The crackdown came just weeks before snap general elections Sunday, in which the pro-Kurdish HDP party suffered a setback blamed on Ankara restarting the war with PKK.

Sinirlioglu blamed the militants for impeding the talks, saying that “the peace process has not stopped in Turkey.”

He also reiterated Turkish opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, and blamed him for the rise of the Islamic State group (ISIS). “Assad is the reason why ISIS emerged because he transgressed all the red lines,” he claimed.

The minister said it is impossible to defeat ISIS without first fixing the situation in Syria. “Without unity in Syria and Iraq, it's difficult to defeat terror,” he said.

Sinirlioglu reaffirmed that the security of Iraq is important for Turkey therefore Ankara “continues to aid Iraq.”

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani joined Sinirlioglu on the final panel of the day, telling the audience that Erbil's relationship with Turkey will not be jeopardized by anyone, including the Iraqi government.

Sinirlioglu praised the Kurdistan region for its ruling system, and said “we hope for the normalization of Erbil-Baghdad relations.”

“Our relations with Turkey are not at the expense of any party,” Barzani said, adding that Erbil has a strategic relationship with Turkey.