Minister: PKK is uneasy with Gülen's followers as they communicate with civilians

Today's Zaman

(Photo: Aksam)

Akşam: The daily covered an interview with Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker in its lead story. “The Kurdistan Workers’ Party [PKK] is uncomfortable with my speaking Kurdish. They want politicians who do not know Kurdish so that the PKK can say that the government is foreign to us and does not know anything about our culture. However, I will continue with my attempts to communicate with Kurds because now is the time that communication is of the utmost importance,” said Eker. He added that the PKK is also uneasy with the existence in "their" region of followers of Fethullah Gülen, an Islamic scholar. Eker highlighted that Gülen’s followers’ aim is to communicate with civilians in the region and that this is the last thing the PKK wants.

Excerpted from Press Roundup on Today's Zaman, 16 January 2012, Monday