Baku, Azerbaijan, March 24
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Several members of Turkish ruling Justice and Development Party demand the resignation of the country's Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc, Milliyet newspaper reported on Mar.24.
Reportedly, Arinc said on Mar.23 that the country's president shouldn't appear on television so often and added that the president is not fully informed about the details of the democratic settlement of the Kurdish problem. These remarks by Bulent Arinc caused demands for his resignation.
Moreover, some members of the ruling party accused Arinc of having close ties to the movement of Fethullah Gulen [Islamic public figure currently residing in the US] who is accused of espionage against the country.
Arinc has participated in Turkey's politics since 1983 and has become one of the important figures in the country's government since 2011.
The process of democratic settlement to the Kurdish problem in Turkey kicked off in 2009, following which a part of the PKK militants left the country's territory and moved to the neighboring Iraq.
The conflict between Turkey and the PKK, which demands the creation of an independent Kurdish state, has continued for over 25 years and has claimed more than 40,000 lives.
The UN and the European Union listed the PKK as a terrorist organization.
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