Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal on Monday suggested that the government's Kurdish initiative, announced last month and aimed at extending democratic rights and improving the freedoms of Kurds, was actually based on a report drafted during a meeting held in April at Washington-based think tank the Atlantic Council.
“Some 14 Turkish and Iraqi politicians also participated in the meeting. Norway's ambassador in Washington was also there,” Baykal said, stating that the Norwegian government had lent financial support to the meeting in Washington. “Representatives of the Open Society Institute and former ambassadors of the United States and Britain to Turkey were also present at the meeting. They later came to Turkey and were hosted by the Foreign Ministry,” Baykal said at a press conference held at his party's headquarters, while claiming that a similar meeting would be held in İstanbul next month.
A few hours after Baykal delivered those remarks, the Foreign Ministry released a written statement on the issue. “There was no representation on behalf of Turkey at the meeting. Implying that Turkey's foreign policy ‘has been driven and managed by leading external elements' has deeply wounded members of our ministry who have been working diligently and making great sacrifices defending Turkey's supreme interests in every field and which has a deeply rooted tradition,” the Foreign Ministry said.
“Turkey's fundamental foreign policy principles are nonpartisan. We expect our political parties to act in a more responsible manner, while exercising their democratic right to criticize, and to avoid behavior and statements which will harm our country's prestige and national interests,” the ministry concluded.
At the same time the ministry's statement was released, Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek was speaking to reporters on the identical issue, following a Cabinet meeting, in his capacity as government spokesperson. Çiçek firmly denied Baykal's allegations, adding that “it is not acceptable to deliver hours-long statements on meetings which we have never participated in.”
Earlier on Monday, officials at the US Embassy once more reiterated that the United States had not been involved in the Turkish government's initiative. “The US supports Turkey's democratization, but this is a Turkish plan. This is a domestic issue which needs to be solved by Turkey and which is indeed being resolved by Turkey.”
