Turkey's Security Council focuses on public safety issues

ANKARA

Turkey's National Security Council met on Wednesday and a statement released after the session said the council is determined to maintain the "solution process" and the fight against the "parallel state."

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan chaired the meeting, where a number of issues were discussed, including measures needed to be taken by all public institutions regarding the safety and tranquility of the public.

The country's "solution process" was among the top issues in the meeting with the council saying it is determined to continue with the process to bring an end to terror.

The process refers to the Turkish government’s initiative to end the decades-long conflict with the outlawed PKK, which has so far claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people.

According to the statement, the council also pointed out that the remarks of some organizations and countries over the 1915 incidents are "devoid of realities," have "political characters" and thus are "null and void."

The 1915 events took place during World War I when a portion of the Armenian population living in the Ottoman Empire sided with the invading Russians and revolted.

The relocation of Armenians by the Ottomans in eastern Anatolia following the revolts resulted in numerous casualties. Turkey does not dispute that there were casualties on both sides, but rejects calling the events "genocide."

Turkey has called for the establishment of a joint commission of historians and the opening of archives to study and uncover what happened between the Ottoman Empire and its Armenian citizens.

Another issue on the council's agenda was the government's fight against the "parallel state" - a purported group of bureaucrats embedded in the country's institutions, including the judiciary and the police, whom the Turkish government alleges are plotting to undermine it.

The council stressed its determination in fighting the "parallel state," whose members are accused of orchestrating a corruption probe that targeted high-ranking Turkish officials in December 2013.

ANKARA

The country's "solution process" was among the top issues in the meeting with the council saying it is determined to continue with the process to bring an end to terror.

The process refers to the Turkish government’s initiative to end the decades-long conflict with the outlawed PKK, which has so far claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people.

The 1915 events took place during World War I when a portion of the Armenian population living in the Ottoman Empire sided with the invading Russians and revolted.

Turkey has called for the establishment of a joint commission of historians and the opening of archives to study and uncover what happened between the Ottoman Empire and its Armenian citizens.

The council stressed its determination in fighting the "parallel state," whose members are accused of orchestrating a corruption probe that targeted high-ranking Turkish officials in December 2013.