Members of European Parliament condemn PKK terrorist attacks

With the ongoing deadly terror attacks by the outlawed PKK, which have resulted in the deaths of security officers and civilians in southeastern provinces, the Friends of Turkey group (FoT) in European Parliament recently published a written statement condemning the PKK and urged a restart of the reconciliation process. The statement began by saying that the group is shocked by the return of violence in Turkey and said: "We strongly condemn the violence against civilians, police and soldiers."

The official statement said "the violent conflict is a threat to the whole region," and urged "EU leaders to act immediately with all possible means to achieve an end to the violence and to get the parties in the conflict back to the negotiation table." The reconciliation process was launched by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in 2013 to end the decades-long conflict between the state and the PKK. The FoT statement called on "President [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan to resume the Kurdish peace process he had himself initiated in an urgent manner."

Touching on the approaching early parliamentary elections on Nov. 1 the statement also said: "Turkey's political forces should unite and minimize polarization, ensuring democracy by protecting freedom of expression and reinforcing the rule of law. Free and fair elections are crucial for the democratic future of the country."

The FoT group is an informal friendship group founded in 2010 that brings together more than 50 members of the European Parliament and was re-launched in September 2014. The group aims to closely monitor EU accession negotiations with Turkey from a critical but constructive approach.