Erdogan calls on BDP and MHP to contrıbute to solution of Kurdish issue

Referring to a recent initiative launched by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and backed by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) to seek a solution to the Kurdish issue through consensus among all political parties, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday urged the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in Antalya to be involved in efforts aimed at finding a solution to the Kurdish issue. Erdogan, who was in Antalya to attend provincial congress of his party, also praised the tourism income provided by the city. Stating that the government has been conducting projects to turn Antalya into a world city, Erdogan said that Turkey has become the shining star of tourism in the last 9.5 years, just like in many other fields. "When we came into power, there were 13 million tourists in Turkey, and now the number of tourists visiting Turkey has surpassed 31 million. At that time, Turkey's tourism incomes amounted to $8.5 billion, but thank God our tourism incomes have reached $23.5 billion. Antalya comes first in terms of tourism. In 2011, Turkey ranked the sixth among the cities which hosted the highest number of tourists worldwide," Erdogan said. As part of his contacts in Antalya, Erdogan also visited Ugur Acar, Turkey's first face transplant patient.