By Prensa Latina
Ankara : Hundreds of Turkish academics, writers and journalists urged Republic President Abdula Gul on Tuesday to lift the prohibition on the pro-Kurd opponent DTP party (Democratic Society Party).
In the letter, disclosed by media, the signers consider that the prohibition of the DTP, founded in 2005 and with 20 of the 550 legislators, will deepen the deep division existing between Turkish society and that minority.
Kurds number approximately 15 million in Turkey and are mainly settled in the eight southeastern provinces of the country.
The text continues that eliminating DTP would deal a harsh blow to democracy at this crucial moment in which adhesion to the European Union is being negotiated, and when it is important to obtain urgent economic, political and human solutions to the problem of the Kurds.
The intellectuals warn Gul that the government has tackled the issue with people from Europe and the US, not with representatives of that minority, which constitutes a “hurtful” and “worrying” attitude, and urges a greater commitment with reason and dialogue in the search for a solution to the conflict .