Among the participants of the summit were deputy prime ministers Cemil Çiçek and Bülent Arınç, Economy Minister Ali Babacan, Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin, Interior Minister Beşir Atalay, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül, AK Party vice chairmen Abdulkadir Aksu and Hüseyin Çelik, and the party’s parliamentary group deputy chairmen Bekir Bozdağ and Suat Kılıç.
The summit came only days before a parliamentary debate scheduled for Nov. 10 on a plan to settle the country’s decades-old Kurdish question through democratic and peaceful means. No immediate statement was available on the exact content of yesterday’s gathering.
The governing AK Party announced its intention to settle the Kurdish question with a democratization package a few months ago, but has since faced strong opposition from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The two opposition parties believe such a plan will lead to a division of the country. Though not officially confirmed, the AK Party plans to grant broader cultural and political rights to the country’s Kurds and in this way cut off support flowing to the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
After the summit, the prime minister met with Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ as part of the two’s weekly meetings.
