The meeting focused on the ongoing peace process between the Turkish government and the PKK, which started on 21 March 2013 after the call for a ceasefire with Turkey by PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan.
The PES supports the peace process and is willing to contribute to the peaceful solution to a conflict that has caused too many victims in the past 30 years. European social democrats believe that this is a historic opportunity for peace to be seized and that it can only be achieved through dialogue and joint agreement. It is now of paramount importance that all parties are being involved in this process and come up with a political agreement. This would represent a step forward for democracy and human rights in Turkey and would give new impetus to Turkey’s EU accession process.