The committee, presided by Nobel Peace Price Martti Ahtisaari, will meet with Osman Baydemir, Ahmet Türk and Aysel Tuğluk in Diyarbakır.
Athisaari, who has been involved in peace mediation for over 30 years from Namibia to Kosovo, will be in İstanbul today while tomorrow will be in Diyarbakır for some talks.
The committee under the presidency of Ahtisaari will keep having talks in Turkey till 18 September and it will meet with Diyarbakır Metropolitan Mayor Osman Baydemir, ex-DTP (Democratic Society Party) Co-Chair Ahmet Türk, Aysel Tuğluk and Governor Mustafa Toprak. Together with Ahtisaari, Austria Foreign Affairs ex-Undersecretary Albert Rohan and Spain ex-Foreign Minister Marcelino Oreja Aguirre are form the committee. They will meeet with Kurdish representatives to talk about the solution of the Kurdish problem.
It was Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan who first suggested the name of United Nation's Kosovo Special Delegate and ex-Finland President Martti Ahtisaari.
Two years ago, Öcalan had remarked that "there is a need to quickly establish a commission of 'wise' men. The members of the commission should be chosen by the state. It could be intellectuals and 'wise' men like İlker Türkmen, for example." Ocalan also stated that "this commission should include people like Ahtisaari, whom I especially recommend. The committee members can hold talks with both sides and weapons can be laid down in order to create favorable conditions for the work of the commission. This is actually not something new, it is a method used worldwide. Such a 'wise' men commission has been set up in the process of conflict resoulution in Ireland, Kosovo and South Africa.
Who is Martii Ahtisaari
Martti Ahtisaari was elected President of the Republic of Finland in February 1994. He held office from the 1st of March 1994 to the 29th of February 2000. Upon leaving office, President Ahtisaari founded the Crisis Management Initiative and is the Chairman of the Board of CMI. Martti Ahtisaari founded CMI to continue his legacy in helping the international community to do better when it comes to preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and post-conflict statebuilding.
After leaving the office of the President, Martti Ahtisaari has taken various tasks involved in peace mediation and conflict resolution. In 2005 he facilitated the peace process between the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement. Between November 2005 and February 2008 Mr. Ahtisaari acted as the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the future status process for Kosovo. Martti Ahtisaari is the laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize 2008.
President Ahtisaari has his personal office in conjunction of CMI where he is assisted in all his tasks. The office is situated in the same premises with CMI
Translation: Berna Ozgencil
ANF / ISTANBUL
ANF NEWS AGENCY
