Turkey Live Coverage (7 June): Politics and Pressure over the Kurdistan Talks

1740 GMT: Following the Global Counter- Terrorism Forum, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said regarding Turkey's fight against PKK: 

With respect to our fight against terrorism, we work very closely together, and in fact, we are learning every week how we can be more closely knit together to cooperate and to support Turkey’s fight against the PKK. I will not discuss potential arms transfers that have not been formally notified to Congress, but I will say that the extensive assistance that we currently provide is going to intensify through closer cooperation and planning, and both the foreign minister and I are committed to making sure both of our governments are as focused and coordinated as we can be going against those that threaten Turkey and Turkish lives.

 I think I’ve said it on every trip to Turkey – the United States stands strongly with Turkey in your fight against the PKK whose long campaign of violence has claimed tens of thousands of lives. 

1535 GMT: Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu criticized the silence of countries who haven’t spoken out against the Assad regime so far and underlined, once again, the significance of an international consensus. He said:

From Turkey’s perspective, there is instability on the border between Turkey and Syria. The Assad regime does not create stability: On the contrary, Assad’s methods destroy the stability in the region. 

The international community should act unanimously to stop the oppression and atrocities.

Turkey will continue its inclusive activities to strengthen the opposition in Syria.

1300 GMT: Diyarbakir's Mayor Osman Baydemir criticized Prime Minister Erdogan after the Mayor of the Van Provinc, Bekir Kaya, and some district administrators had been taken into custody today:

If we cannot do politics in this geography and cannot serve to our people, then you are illegitimate!

The whole world shall know that we will never bow down to cruelty. Whatever its cost is, we will not bow down to the cruel! In this old geography, those who are talking with the language of Moses are once again putting the practice of Pharaoh forth. We have no single person who can believe in your discourses! God willing, you will be the victims of your own cruelty as previous governments and, God willing, you will be drowned in your own cruelty!

1230 GMT: Speaking as the co-chair of the Global Counter- Terrorism Forum, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has declared:

One thing is crystal clear to all of us: No country is immune from this threat and we cannot win the fight against terrorism unless we join hands. It is a threat to all of us, without distinction. 

While the security component of the fight is critical, it is not alone sufficient to obtain the desired result. We have to preserve the critical balance between security requirements on the one hand, and democratic freedoms and basic human rights on the other.

The [Kurdish insurgency] PKK continues to claim innocent lives in Turkey and the number of victims at its hands increases, as does our indignation against the PKK and its supporters. Turkey will continue to fight PKK terrorism with full determination and in absolute compliance with the rule of law. We expect full support in this fight from the global community, in line with their international obligations.

1105 GMT: Nechirvan Barzani, the Prime Minister of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, has announced a deal with Prime Minister Erdogan to open two new border crossings. 

1000 GMT: Further pressure for consensus over Kurdistan from Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD) chairwoman Umit Boyner:

We heed and welcome with hope yesterday's meeting between Mr. Prime Minister and the leader of the main opposition party. We wish that other political parties will become a part of this picture as soon as possible. 

0910 GMT: The opposition CHP's leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu has called on the leader of the nationalist MPH, Devlet Bahceli to show goodwill for the solution of the Kurdish problem. Kilicdaroglu said that they could change the name of the Parliamentary commission from the "Wise People Commission", the words used by the imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, to another title as long as all parties agreed. Kilicdaroglu added:

We look at problems from a human-centred perspective. We started this cause we promised the mothers of martyrs. They say 'go and solve the problem'. You cannot stay idly by to a 35-year problem while people are loosing their lives. We are not looking at the identities of martyrs. We need to produce a solution to this country's common problem.

0835 GMT: Underlining the importance of a consensus on the solution of the Kurdish problem following the top-level meeting on Wednesday, President Abdullah Gul said: "All these meetings are praiseworthy. I always encourage meetings of leaders and politicians who are aware of the [pressing] issues."

0800 GMT: Less than 10 hours following the meeting with the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the Kurdish initiative they discussed was no longer applicable since the rightist Nationalist Movement Party declined to cooperate. It appears that Erdogan's government is trying to isolate the MHP and put more pressure on it through media statements. 

Chinese President Hu Jintao said on Wednesday evening Turkey that has been selected as “a dialogue partner” for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

kidnapped three people, including a soldier.