Brussels, 27/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Saturday 25 July, following a telephone call with Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlüt Çavusoglu, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, stressed the “fundamental importance of keeping the settlement process with Kurdish people alive and on track”.
Condemning the terrorist attacks of the Kurdish party PKK, Mogherini tweeted about the need to continue work in favour of the peace process, following a conversation with the co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Selahattin Demirtas.
Last week, Turkey stepped up its operations against the Kurdish militants, in parallel to strikes against the organisation Islamic State (IS). Furthermore, two Turkish soldiers were killed and four others injured in an attack by PKK militants.
“Terrorist groups must not spoil the (peace) process and the ceasefire must be preserved. Any action taken should avoid the risk of endangering the ceasefire and the Kurdish peace process that remains the best opportunity in a generation to solve the conflict that has claimed far too many lives”, Mogherini stressed in a press release following her conversation with Çavusoglu. She added: “The Turkish government has shown in recent years courage, firm intention and wisdom in bringing forward a political process that is the only means of reaching a stable solution to the conflict, for the sake of all the Turkish people. The EU will keep supporting the government on this path”.
Mogherini reiterated the EU's support to Turkey's efforts to step up the fight against IS and all forms of terrorism.
Meeting at NATO
By request of Turkey, an extraordinary meeting of the NATO Council will be held this Tuesday 28 July at ambassador level, “in view of the seriousness of the situation after the heinous terrorist attacks in recent days, and also to inform allies of the measures it (Turkey) is taking”, a NATO press release reads. Ankara has not requested any specific military assistance from NATO. (Camille-Cerise Gessant)