Gülen: Despite differences in method peace should be supported
Yet another show of support for Turkey's ongoing settlement process - aiming to end the decades-old bloodshed in the country - has been voiced, this time from Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who said some people might oppose the government's method of solving the settlement process but to maintain peace in the country the process should be supported by all.
In his latest weekly speech, broadcast on website Herkul.org, Gülen said it will be a difficult process to maintain peace in the country and that the process needs serious courage, intelligence and diplomatic thinking. “For all these, there need to be a collective mind,” Gülen said, showing his support for the wise people commission, which is tasked with promoting and explaining the ongoing settlement process with the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to the public. The 63-member commission is made up of groups organized on a regional basis and is active in the country's seven regions.
In a bid to resolve the country's terrorism problem, at the end of last year the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government launched negotiations with PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is incarcerated on İmralı Island in the Sea of Marmara. In past months, Öcalan, who, despite his 14 years in prison, still wields enormous clout over PKK terrorists as well as millions of nationalist Kurds in Turkey, has called on PKK terrorists to lay down their arms and leave Turkey.
In line with the terrorist head's call, PKK militants began withdrawing from Turkey earlier this week.
Gülen also offered his condolences for the victims of the Reyhanlı blasts.
He said the attack, which targeted Hatay, a symbol of a culture of peaceful coexistence, had unleashed a great sorrow. He said people will respond, while preserving common sense, to those who have targeted the moves that aim to restore social peace and brotherhood in Turkey.
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