PM says government yet to decide on wise men commission

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the government has not yet decided whether to establish a "wise men" commission to monitor or manage the ongoing peace process with the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), but it has been working on the possibility. "We will select people that would represent the whole country if decide to establish such a committee," Erdogan said on Tuesday while addressing his Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) deputies in Parliament, responding to recent media reports about the possible make-up of the committee. He also added that his government is the sole authority to pick the members of the committee, not the media or columnists. The prime minister stipulated that the name of the committee would be "wise people" rather than "wise men" as it would also include women. Erdogan said his government is working to determine a list of so-called "wise men," or experts, adding that such a commission would play a role in preparing Turkish society for peace. "We could establish groups of seven. These groups could include figures from the worlds of academia, business, civil society and the media," he said. Following Erdogan's remarks, some media outlets released possible names of the members of the commission, which has sparked a flurry of debates, especially among opposition parties, about the nascent advisory body. The establishment of such a commission has come to the nation's agenda thanks to talks the AK Party government has been holding with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in order to resolve the country's longstanding Kurdish and terrorism problems. In a historic announcement last week, Ocalan called on PKK militants to declare a cease-fire and withdraw from Turkey. The "wise people" commission would be expected in particular to play a role in monitoring the withdrawal process of the PKK militants from Turkey. During his speech, Erdogan said extreme left and right groups in Turkey have been frustrated over the government's latest move to address the problem of terrorism in the country and have been trying to block the government. "We have reduced the country's democracy deficit and now we are now draining the marsh of terrorism," Erdogan proclaimed.