Talabani sent an invitation to Baykal through the Foreign Ministry in June. CHP executives have not made an official or public statement concerning the reason for postponing the visit. However, news reports on Tuesday cited CHP sources as saying that Baykal wants to know about the government’s democratization initiative, which is expected to expand freedoms for Turkey’s Kurds, in detail before paying a visit to Iraq.
The same sources were quoted as saying a visit to Iraq without knowing the exact details of the democratic initiative, which will be debated soon in Parliament, would lead to misunderstandings, making it seem as if the “CHP’s stance regarding the initiative has changed.”
Since the government first announced its plans in July to find a solution to the Kurdish issue through a democratic initiative, the CHP has strongly criticized the government’s move on various grounds.
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