Erdo?an's denial of 'Dolmabahçe Agreement' sparks row

A senior governmental official has denied reports suggesting that President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an had knowledge of the content of a key meeting about the peace process even as another participant in the gathering confirmed that Erdo?an even attended the event in question.

?The Dolmabahçe news report in Cumhuriyet newspaper is based on distorted and fabricated information to a large extent. The claims concerning our president in the report are not true,? Deputy Prime Minister Yalç?n Akdo?an, a participant in the Feb. 28 meeting, said in messages posted to his Twitter account on July 19, the day daily Cumhuriyet published its report saying Erdo?an had been informed of every detail of the meeting at Istanbul?s Dolmabahçe Palace as it occurred. 

Pervin Buldan of the Peoples? Democratic Party (HDP), meanwhile, told Cumhuriyet that the report was ?partially? accurate while also voicing regret over a recent statement by Erdo?an which sparked the debate over the Dolmabahçe meeting.

In his statement which Buldan called ?unfortunate,? Erdo?an said he did not recognize the term ?Dolmabahçe Agreement,? a document outlining a 10-item list of priorities for the resolution of the Kurdish issue.

With the document, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers? Party (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, urged the PKK to hold a congress in spring to discuss disarmament in Turkey.

Öcalan issued his first call on the PKK to declare a cease-fire in 2013, while a joint press conference between the government and the HDP was held at Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul on Feb. 28. Akdo?an and HDP Istanbul deputy S?rr? Süreyya Önder read their own statements, while Önder listed 10 articles which summarized Öcalan?s priorities. 

?I do not recognize the...