Deputy PM sees no laying down of arms by PKK before election

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Yalç?n Akdo?an has forecasted that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is not likely to hold a congress in the next few months on a decision to lay down their arms, indicating it will not happen before the June 7 parliamentary election. 

"At the moment, the PKK's holding of a congress and laying down their arms in the short term, in these few months, is not in sight," Akdo?an said on April 16, while speaking with the Ankara bureau chiefs of a group of media outlets.

Without further elaboration, Akdo?an continued his remarks by criticizing the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), particularly for their stance in regards to a recent clash between security forces and PKK militants which took place in the eastern province of A?r? on April 11.

"Here, between democracy and terror; one of them is white and one of them is black. Now, these [the HDP] are trying to produce a gray field in the middle and they don't want the state to intervene. Why would the state not come into contact? In order for the citizens to cast their ballots with their free will, the state has to take measures," said Akdo?an, who reiterated the government's suggestion that the PKK was putting pressure on people to vote in favor of the HDP in the June 7 election.

"The resolve of our prime minister, of our president and the government concerning the resolution process is obvious. There is no such thing like soft-pedaling or pigeon-holing; it is definitely out of the question," he also noted.

Five PKK militants were killed and four Turkish soldiers were injured in A?r? on April 11 in clashes that erupted after PKK militants opened fire on security forces, the Turkish military said in a statement over the weekend. The PKK on...