By M. Bilal Kenasari
ANKARA
The unrest sparked in southeastern Turkey by the demolition of the statue of a PKK terrorist has nothing to do with the real demands of Turkey's Kurds, according to influential Kurdish politician Kemal Burkay.
"The PKK, which lost sight of the basic demands of the Kurdish people, is diverting its supporters' attention with this kind of acts," Burkay told the Anadolu Agency Tuesday, referring to the protests staged by PKK supporters in the town of Lice in Diyarbakir province.
The protests, which erupted after a criminal court in Lice ordered the removal of the statue of one of the founders of the terrorist group, triggered clashes with Turkish security forces and led to the death of a 24-year-old protester. Two others were wounded during the conflict.
The statue of Mahsum Korkmaz, who died in 1986, was erected on Friday to commemorate the 30th anniversary of PKK's first clash with Turkish forces in Lice.
Burkay said it was the duty of those who do not want to see a rising unrest in the region to reduce this tension despite the existence of some groups struggling to fuel conflict.
"Now that the Turkish state launched the initiative called 'the solution process' with [PKK leader] Ocalan and other key PKK figures, I think it should solve this kind of problems with them too," he said.
The "solution process" began early last year with a ceasefire between the Turkish government and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, known by its Kurdish language acronym PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and many of its western allies including the U.S.
The initiative aims to end Turkey's longstanding problem of PKK-led terrorism which has claimed more than 40,000 lives and obstructed the development of the country's mainly Kurdish-populated southeastern cities.
On July 10, the Turkish parliament passed a bill that has provided a legal framework to the ongoing process to end terrorism.
In September last year, the government announced a "democratization package" that brought broader political rights, education in mother tongue and tougher penalties for hate speech.
Kurdish writer and intellectual Kemal Burkay lived in exile in Sweden for 31 years. On his return to Turkey two years ago he was elected the leader of the left wing Rights and Freedoms Party (HAK-PAR).
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