ANKARA (AA) - Turkish academics welcomed the recent visit of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Turkey's southeastern province of Diyarbakir on Saturday together with Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani; a visit which was regarded as a crucial step in the 'solution process' aimed at bringing an end to the violence in the region.
Speaking to the Anadolu Agency, Prof. Dr. Mumtazer Turkone underlined the need for a 'wise' and 'balanced' politics in the 'solution process' and said the recent atmosphere of peace in the southeastern part of Turkey was quite suitable to use every effort in order to improve the 'peace process'.
"I believe that the last move of the government was quite successful in all aspects," he said referring to the leaders' Diyarbakir visit, one of the provinces in Turkey's southeast where Kurds live. "I see it as a very balanced and sensible political step. Even those who object it, are in fact feeling happy about the development, as it was really convincing" Turkone said.
Stressing that Diyarbakir was a critical province in the process, he added, "If Diyarbakir says 'yes' to the peace efforts, than no one will have an excuse to prevent it."
'Historical meeting' is how Prof. Dr. Mehmet Yuksel, Head of Public Law Department at Hacettepe University Faculty of Law, described Saturday's meeting between Erdogan and Barzani.
"I find the messages of Barzani quite peaceful and aimed at improving the unity and solidarity," Yuksel said, "especially the one 'It is now time to reunite the country'." He said the issue should be evaluated not only in Turkey's perspective but also with the Middle East.
"Turkey, with its history, culture, and the geography, is not an ordinary country," Yuksel stressed, "That's why I believe the last move (in Diyarbakir) was not only a tactic."
Mehmet Akif Okur, Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations at Gazi University, is another name who thinks the leaders' Diyarbakir visit was vitally important in the 'peace process', which was also supported by Barzani who made his first visit to southeastern Turkey in two decades on Saturday.
"It is highly important that those citizens who feel sympathy for Barzani also support the 'peace process' and take a stand against PKK (listed as a terrorist organization internationally)," Okur said.
"The main problem in Turkey is the efforts of PKK to found an independent state," he said, stressing that the Kurdish and Turkish people lived together for years without having any problems and fighting.
Okur called for a rally in Kirkuk province of Iraq so that Barzani can show his support to establish the permanent peace in the region by saying 'We recognize the Turkmens in our region.'
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