Arinc: Turkish government intends to finalize work on democratization package

Addressing the Ankara bureau chiefs of newspapers, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said on Wednesday that the government intended to finalize the work on a democratization package that would include some measures to meet the demands of Kurds as part of an ongoing resolution process. "We have concluded our initial work. We'll work again on Thursday, probably after the iftar at an open-ended meeting, and we will put in the last word. Then it will be submitted for our prime minister's discretion. Some legal amendments will be brought to Parliament in October upon his approval, which I believe will be positively received," Arinc said. Reiterating that the government had never stopped reforms and that it had approved several democratization packages recently, Arinc said they had already realized nearly one-third of the Justice and Development Party's (AKP) 63-article list of promises outlined on the sidelines of the party's congress last year. Underlining the need to speed up the process, Arinc called on the outlawed PKK to complete its withdrawal process as soon as possible so that achievements in due course could be protected and brought forward with more steps. Denying claims by the governor of the southeastern province of Siirt that recruitment to the PKK had increased since the resolution process, Arinc said they had no information on the rise in the number of members.