BDP co-chairman Demirtas meets with EU officials

Co-chairman of pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Selahattin Demirtas met with European Union Enlargement Chief Stefan Fuele, President of the European Parliament (EP) Martin Schulz and Co-Chair of the European Union-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee Helene Flautre in Brussels. “It’s meaningless to define the PKK as a terrorist organization and keep it in the list of terrorist organizations in an environment where violence has ceased,” Demirtas said during his meeting with EU officials. Stating that the meeting at the EP was positive, Demirtas said they have demanded EP’s support for the reforms required in the resolution process and lasting peace in Turkey. Informing the EU officials on the withdrawal of armed PKK forces outside Turkish territory, Demirtas said, “We have stated that the EU should play a motivating role for the normalization process.” Demirtas also said that one of the Peace and Democracy Conferences would be held in Brussels at the end of June, adding that it not be a conference organized by BDP, but a joint conference of non-governmental organizations in Europe. Demirtas said that he has seen that the democratic resolution process was closely followed by EU at the end of his two-day contacts in Brussels.