ANKARA
Turkey’s Deputy PM Yalcin Akdogan has said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has a very important role in the solution process aimed at bringing an end to the decades-long conflict with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
He told reporters in Ankara on Friday: "President Erdogan has a very important role for all of the establishments to act as the process requires. President Erdogan is the maestro of solution process.
"His opinion and will is important. President Erdogan’s determinacy is as important as government’s determinacy, sincerity and strong will."
Akdogan added that the support for the solution process went beyond the AK Party’s electoral base, "which shows that the supporters of the political parties that are against the solution process internalized and accepted the process".
'Progress made'
President Erdogan declared four days ago: "There is no longer a Kurdish problem in Turkey, but our Kurdish brothers and sisters have problems."
Selahattin Demirtas, the co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party, or HDP, claimed Erdogan’s remarks were a “political maneuver” ahead of June’s general election and alleged the Turkish president was uneasy that the solution process was making progress "in spite of him".
The solution process was launched by the Turkish government two years ago to bring an end to the decades-long conflict with the PKK.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU and has claimed lives of more than 40,000 people.
