Istanbul, April 21 () - The missing section on the government-led Kurdish peace process, suggesting an expansion of freedoms and rights and continued efforts for the resolution of the process after the elections, has finally been added back into the election manifesto of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
“We will resume the resolution process, which aims at building unity and fraternity in the country and which we don’t regard as a seasonal issue, with determination after June 7” the manifesto said.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu had confessed the two pages on the Kurdish peace bid were lost while the ruling party’s electoral manifesto was on its way to the printing press. The manifesto was re-printed on April 21 with the inclusion of these two pages.
The section said the AKP’s founding leader, current President Tayyip Erdoğan, broke taboos and launched a democratic process for the solution through his statement in 2005.
“It was the first time a government has shown courage facing [the problem]. There were attempts to sabotage the AKP’s courageous move through various terrorist attacks and provocative acts but the determination remained to resolve one of the fundamental and historical problems of our country” it said.
It promised to bring about constitutional guarantees for the protection of democratic rights and freedoms, as well as to hasten the rehabilitation of the southeastern Anatolian region, which was affected by “terror” over the years.
It also stressed that all possible measures will be taken to fully drop the armed conflict from the country’s agenda.
