Turkey Live Coverage (8 March): Erdogan's Kurdish Problem

1620 GMT: The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) MP Nursel Aydogan has said that there will be more deaths unless meetings between the State and PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) take place. Aydogan added:

The pathway towards peace and freedom shall be opened. And its way, as we have expressed before, is going through Imrali (the small island where PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan is imprisoned). Just as there were meetings, dialogue and negotiations between PKK and the state for a year, we express that meetings with Imrali shall re-start and the door of the pathway leading to the solution of the problem shall be opened.

1540 GMT: Ukraine's women's rights activist group FEMEN, known for their semi-naked protests, have appeared in Istanbul; however, this demonstration lasted only 30 seconds:

1420 GMT: Following a meeting between Turkey's President Abdullah Gul and his Tunisian counterpart Moncef al-Marzouki in Tunis, both leaders stated that they were opposed to any force from outside the region intervening in Syria. Gul said:

Turkey is against the intervention by any force which is from outside the region. Such an intervention could be subject to exploitation.

1230 GMT: Prime Minister Erdogan, in a speech in Mardin, has brought nothing new to the table regarding the solution of the Kurdish problem.

Erdogan draw the line between the Kurdish people and the PKK party once again and called on Kurdish people to distance themselves from the "terrorist" organisation. Representating the European Union as "misled' by the hypocrite France, Erdogan gave the message that 'we are enough for us'.  He said:

I am wishing a happy International Women's Day for both women in our country and abroad from God.

Mardin is a the city of civilisation. It is a city where religions, languages and differences can meet and co-exist in a tolerant way. Mardin is the city of brotherhood, Mardin is the city of history. Mardin is the city of suffering, honored and strong women. Mardin is an open air museum. With its perspective, culture, brotherhood and cooperation, it is a model to the world.

I said during my party group meeting on Tuesday as well. I said that 'this year, on International Women's Day on 8 March, women victims of the earthquake of Van deserve to be remembered.' I said that 'women who lost their children and husbands in Uludere deserve to be remembered.'  I said that 'women of North Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt deserve to be remembered.' Now, my wish and prayer is to catch and live the moment when women in Syria is remembered. Unfortunately, unnamed women of Somalia, Palestine, Afghanistan who have been welcoming 8 March in a bittersweet way, are continuing to live the very same.

Women in most of the places on earth are obliged to struggle against both racism and sexual discrimination. 

Look what France is saying! It says that they will expel immigrants from their country. Well, the European Union wasn't supposed to have such things, right? You were supposed to be the dominant country of the European Union, yes? They cannot be trusted! Humanbeing has no value in their eyes. They are immigrants, so what? But they are humans here, we do see in this way!

It is clear that the UN Security Council is ignoring the tragedy in Syria. Indeed, the pain in Palestine has not been seen and felt. We also know the silence in the face of inhuman events women exposed to have in Bosnia. By this account, we believe that women can understand their fellows much better.

There is no doubt that women will find men who have consciousness, faith and mercy when they protect their own matters. Women have great responsibilities to end terrorism in Turkey. 

Again on this 8 March, I want to commemorate, with God's mercy, Nergiz Evin and Nurcan Olgac who were killed with hundreds of bullets in a vehicle in Siirt and Mizgan Doru who was kileld with her unborn baby in Batman. May they rest in peace.

I want you to raise your voice against the terrorist organisation. I want Kurdish mothers, women and men to see the real face of PKK. I want them to tell PKK to take their hands off our children. 

1000 GMT: Aysegul Er reports from Ankara.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said that Turkey will not have any diplomatic relations with Greek Cyprus during the latter's term as European Union President, even if the EU opened up negotiations over Turkish accession. Davutoğlu said that this should not be a favour done by one country for another and Greek Cyprus’ efforts to portray this as such were “unacceptable".

0930 GMT: Today, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to visit the southeastern province of Mardin and present steps towards the so-called "Kurdish opening".

Erdogan touched upon the sensitive Kurdish problem at a recent meeting of his AKP party. While resisting calls to apologise from the families of 34 civilians killed by Turkish jets in January, Erdogan said that his Government was determined to solve this issue.

Unsurprisingly, Erdogan put the problem within the framework of "the Kurdish issue, terrorism issue, and Southeastern issue". Although he acknowledged that the problems has political, social and economic dimensions, Erdogan clearly distinguished terrorism/armed struggle from the political establishments of the Kurds. He said that the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) --- claimed to be an umbrella organization that includes the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) --- is an extension of terrorism, and he asserted that the PKK is not an organisation centred upon Kurdish problems but a tool in the "dirty hands of external powers".