ANKARA
Turkey's solution process on the Kurdish issue is running smoothly, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Monday.
Davutoglu made the remarks at a press conference at Ankara's Esenboga Airport before his departure for the Macedonian capital, Skopje.
"We are happy to observe that a positive milieu is emerging where the solution process is now back on track," he said.
The Turkish premier said Turkey always regarded the solution process as a natural consequence of democratization.
"Our government has never displayed a doubt or hesitant attitude about the solution process," he said.
Davutoglu cautioned that the solution process is not a process that can bear solution instantly or in a single day.
"It is a process during which we have made it through major hurdles and proceeded to key phases as we walked with determination," he added.
Davutoglu also said methods to solve the issue were discussed that would eventually be used in the next steps of the process.
The solution process was launched last year as an initiative of the Turkish government that aimed to secure an end to the decades-long conflict with the outlawed PKK which so far claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people.
The deadly October protests over fighting in the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, close to Turkey's southern border had threatened the process. Dozens of people, including two policemen were killed as several pro-Kurdish protesters took to streets across the country under the pretext that the Turkish government was allegedly doing nothing to halt the advance of ISIL militants pouring into the Turkish-Syrian border town of Kobani.
Turkish prime minister's remarks followed a meeting earlier Monday between Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan and pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party politicians.
Sirri Sureyya Onder, a member of parliament from the pro-Kurdish party, said after the meeting that the solution process had passed the major crisis sparked by October’s Kobani protests despite the fact that many issues remain unresolved.
“The process continues with strong political will and determination. The negotiations have accelerated to achieve a permanent solution based on trust and good faith,” Akdogan tweeted.
Following his remarks to the press, the premier left Ankara with Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu and Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci for Skopje where he will be received by Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov. He will also hold a meeting with Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski in Skopje during a two-day formal visit, according to the Turkish Prime Ministry.
Turkish premier's Skopje talks will focus on bilateral political, economic and commercial relations along with exchange of views on regional and international developments.
He will also meet the Turkish community in Macedonia and attend an event on the sidelines of Dec. 21 Turkish Education Day, the official festival of Macedonia's Turkish community that has been celebrated since 2007.
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