Cicek: "The financial damage done by the terrorist PKK could have paid for huge redevelopment projects"

While the terrorist PKK has done some $300 billion in damage to Turkey over the last 25 years, the price tag of the Southeastern Anatolian Project (GAP) is only $32 billion, Deputy Prime Minister and government spokesperson Cemil Cicek said yesterday. Speaking to reporters after a regular Cabinet meeting, he said that the Cyprus issue had been discussed at the meeting, pointing out how Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended weekend ceremonies in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) marking the 34th anniversary of the 1974 Peace and Freedom Operation on the island. Cicek said that Turkey was doing its best to promote a solution on the island, as shown through its policies. Asked about the Constitutional Court's meeting to set a date to discuss the closure case against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Cicek said that the Cabinet ministers hadn't discussed this at the meeting, adding, "We've already expressed our view on the matter."