Turkey: National Security Council discusses Armenia, Kurdish issue

PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Turkish National Security Council (MGK) held Tuesday a meeting to discuss the government's recent efforts to settle the Kurdish issue and the process of Armenian-Turkish rapprochement, which has recently gained momentum with an agreement signed between the two countries.

October's regular MGK meeting came just after the surrender of a group of outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to Turkish authorities on Monday, which was evaluated by many as a move to strengthen the hand of the government in its recently launched democratization package to end the country's decades-old Kurdish issue.

Another main topic of yesterday's MGK meeting was the agreement signed on Oct. 10 in Zurich between Turkey and Armenia to start internal political consultations to establish diplomatic relations and develop bilateral relations.

The protocols, which must be ratified in order to go into effect, envisage internal political consultations being concluded within six weeks. The Turkish government favors the ratification of the protocols simultaneously with the Armenian parliament. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu briefed the meeting's participants about the current process regarding relations with Armenia, Today’s Zaman reported.

Published by i On Global Trends - Mike Hitchen Online - news, opinion, analysis
See also Sydney Irresistible
Putting principles before profits