Erdogan stresses importance of public support for peace talks

In an address to reporters during a joint press conference with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Ankara on Wednesday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed the importance of public support for a process aimed at the disarmament of the PKK organization through a settlement of the Kurdish question. "If there is a political interlocutor in front of us, whether national or international, as I've said before, we can hold talks with them. We have already met with leaders [of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)] in Erbil, [northern Iraq]. I have met them, my ministers have met them because they are politicians that are participating in Iraq's federal structure," Erdogan said. Underlining the public's unanimous support regarding the process, Erdogan said, "In the public opinion polls I've requested, I saw a very positive opinion from our people. The public's wish is to end this process, whatever it takes." Erdogan also criticized the lengthy pre-trial detention of military officers, saying that it was possible for those who have been kept in detention to be released pending trial and that he has no intention of intervening in the judiciary but that his target of criticism is lengthy pre-trial detentions.