Ankara says has no hand in Kurdish conference delay

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: A Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Saturday said that Ankara did not have a hand in the delay of a Kurdish conference that was scheduled to discuss the peace process with the participation of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). “The news linking the postponement of a Kurdish conference in Arbil city, northern Iraq, to Turkish interference does not reflect reality,” the spokesperson told the Turkish TRT channel. “Talks held between the Turkish chief of staff with Iraqi officials in Baghdad did not tackle the Kurdish conference, but a three-pronged mechanism that includes Ankara, Baghdad and Washington,” the spokesperson noted. Earlier, the head of the Turkish Democratic Society Party, Ahmed Turk, said that he had agreed with Kurdish leaders in Iraq to hold a peace conference with the participation of the PKK in an attempt to put an end to decades of violence. SS (P) 1