ANKARA
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said his government would not give any concessions that would jeopardize Turkey's national unity in efforts to disarm the terrorist PKK organization.
Speaking to reporters before his departure for Austria, Erdogan said he was ready to take political risks involved in solving the issue, adding, "as long as no one asks of us any concessions from our country's values and things that would disturb our national unity. As we have always said, 'one nation, one flag, one country, one state,' which leaves no one outside."
Erdogan said PKK terrorists could choose to withdraw from Turkey to a second country, adding that terrorists who did not get involved in armed conflict could return to their homes and reunite with their families.
Responding to a question whether there is a timetable for the expected release of people who PKK holds including Turkish troops and civil servants, Erdogan said the terrorist organization could gain nothing by holding people hostage, adding, "and the Turkish state does not bargain on such an issue."
Turkish intelligence officials have been holding talks with Abdullah Ocalan, PKK's jailed leader, to disarm the terrorist group and end decades of conflict which killed more than 40,000 people.
A group of lawmakers with the Peace and Democracy Party visited Ocalan at an island prison near Istanbul at the weekend to discuss the efforts to end the conflict.
