30 August 2010
Prime Minister Erdoğan rules out general amnesty talks before 2011
For Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the run-up to the constitutional referendum is the wrong time to discuss a possible general amnesty.
And yet he spoke about it even though to say that he would not speak about it.
Speaking on a program on the private TV channel Kanal 24, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said: "For instance, the general amnesty issue. Is there any clause on general amnesty in the constitutional package? Why do they make statements on this issue?" Erdoğan said, recalling the recent suggestion of Republican People's Party, or CHP, leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for such a pardon.
"First of all, you do not have the right to declare a general amnesty in this country. Who gives you this authority?" the prime minister said, adding that Parliament would not approve such a proposal even if it made it to the voting stage.
"This can only be a promise for the period after the 2011 elections. It is something like bribery," Erdoğan said.
Commenting on the stance of several nongovernmental organizations in Turkey's southeast regarding the upcoming referendum, Erdoğan said these organizations intended to vote "yes" for the constitutional package.
"This is a very brave stance. I congratulate these NGOs for their attitude," Erdoğan said.
On remarks that the government had held talks with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, Erdoğan said they would never sit at a table with the organization, but that the state's intelligence agency could hold talks with anybody, anytime and anywhere.
ANF / NEWS DESK
ANF NEWS AGENCY
