Kurdish separatism in Turkey

Peoples? Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirta? said they wanted peace immediately, adding that guns should be silenced and ceasefire should be reached. 

?Hands should be removed from the trigger. Not tomorrow, not next week, we want peace today, at this hour,? Demirta? said in Turkey?s southeastern province of Mardin Aug. 12, at an event titled ?Arabs discuss peace.? 

President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has blamed the Peoples? Democratic Party (HDP), which he said was being controlled by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers? Party (PKK), for attempting to hamper Turkey?s growth with its stance targeting his aspirations for an unencumbered presidential system.

President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an says the outlawed Kurdistan Workers? Party (PKK) should bury their arms rather than simply put them down, as the Kurdish peace process is already in stalemate.

Turkey?s top business group called on the political parties to continue negotiations seeking to form a coalition government as soon as possible amid rising violence due to terror attacks on Aug. 11.

Seven customs officials have not been heard from since early Aug. 10 in the southeastern Turkish province of Hakkari.

The officials, who had been temporarily appointed to the recently opened Üzümlü Border Gate with Iraq, in Hakkari?s Çukurca district, have not been contacted since traveling to the area. 

A senior leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers? Party (PKK) said peace negotiations were the ?only choice? for an end to the Kurdish problem, in an interview on Aug. 11. 

The PKK would stop fighting if Turkey ended its military operation and called for international monitors to oversee a ceasefire, Cemil Bay?k said in an interview with the BBC.

The ?mral? committee, formed by members of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) to mediate the Kurdish peace talks, says the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has lost its credibility on the Kurdish peace process and no longer gives the committee permission to meet with Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). 

Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu has begun following Republican People?s Party (CHP) leader Kemal K?l?çdaro?lu on Twitter, just a day before he was set to hold a new meeting with him as part of efforts aimed at forming a coalition government.

According to a report presented to the National Security Council (MGK), the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has stockpiled 80,000 arms in the east and southeast, hiding behind the argument that it was "retreating due to the peace process."

European Union Minister Volkan Bozk?r will travel to a number of European countries this week in order to provide updated information about Turkey's recent struggle against acts of terrorism and the Kurdish peace process.