Turkey Live Coverage (21 June): A Questionable Military Declaration

See also Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Trapped in Homs...and Hama...and Douma...and...

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1700 GMT: Following EU members' authorization of the European Commission to launch talks about an action plan and Turkey's acceptance of an initial readmission agreement that is considered critical for the union in combating irregular migration, Turkish citizens can travel across EU countries without visa requirements. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said:

The first synchronized move will be made and the process will start. I believe this is a very historic step.

We will sign the readmission agreement when the EU presents the action plan. And we will ratify the readmission agreement when the EU starts implementing the action plan. We will begin implementing the readmission agreement when the action plan finally produces visa exemption.

Meanwhile, Cyprus (southern administration) managed to convince all member countries to include the statement of "cooperation with all EU countries" in the readmission agreement.

1545 GMT: Pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) co-chair Selahatin Demirtas responded to PKK leader Murat Karayilan's "there were 11 people including people from BDP in the Oslo meetings" statement:

To be honest, we, as BDP co-chairs, have never been involved in any of those Oslo meetings. We had information regarding neither the content of meetings in Imrali [where PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan is kept in prison] nor that in Oslo. However, we were receiving signals that these meetings were held indirectly. We did not know who was meeting with whom, where and where there were meeting. 

1400 GMT: The 50th Turkey-EU Association Council meeting will be gathering tomorrow. The European Union is expected to underline the importance of bringing a pluralistic approach in making a new constitution to address its problems, especially the Kurdish one.

On the other hand, as known, the EU has been calling on Turkey to implement the Additional Protocol on Cyprus and to normalize its relations with Nicosia. However, Ankara is determined to temporarliy suspend its relations with the Cypriot presidency, which will start on 1 July.

1230 GMT: Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) Administrative Council's senior member Zubeyir Aydar responded to those who criticize the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK):

No meeting with chief Apo [Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of PKK] has been allowed for the last 331 days. All of his lawyers have taken in prisons and we don't know how his situation is. Has the Turkish army stayed without doing anything for the last 15 months? Hasn't it made operations every day? In the meantime, haven't our around 300 friends been killed? 

Haven't they taken over 10,000 Kurdish politicians including deputies, mayors, members of provisional and city councils, members of parties and NGOs, lawyers, journalists, medical personnels, trade unionists into prisons?

Is this the atmosphere of peace and solution? Is it the way it can be solved? When our friends in groups were killed, when 15 women guerilla were destroyed under two meters of snow in a shelter, no one was saying that the peace atmosphere was being destroyed.

1145 GMT: Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutloglu has said that all sanctions put on France during the last months of former President Nicholas Sarkozy's term are to be lifted following an order from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ankara cancelled all economic, political and military meetings with Paris after French Senate had passed a bill calling for punishment for those who denied the "Armenian genocide". 

Davutoglu continued, "Relations between Turkey and France are entering a new phase. The lifting of Ankara's sanctions against Paris will be discussed at the forthcoming bilateral meeting between the sides."

1100 GMT: Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Ozel reportedly said that he could destroy the military base of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq on three conditions: the Turkish Government's permission, the US approval and a strong public that is ready for big losses. 

Ozel added that there were PKK members among those 34 who were killed by Turkish jets in Uludere in January. Others have claimed that all the victims were smugglers.

Ozel's declaration raises questions: how is it technically possible to keep Turkish troops in the lands of an autonomous region and make sure that the area cleaned is free from military activity? How can all "anti-government" activities be halted there if Kurdish demands are not met?

As for Uludere, if there is footage showing armed insurgents among the slain in Uludere, then why hasn't the Turkish Armed Forces shared this with the public? Why were MPs in the Parliamentary investigation commission not able to see such an image in the video footage from drones?