ANKARA, Turkey, April 19 (UPI) -- Turkey's opposition parties will fade away if a peaceful settlement is negotiated in the Kurdish conflict, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday.
Erdogan spoke at a meeting of his Justice and Development Party in Ankara, Today's Zaman reported. He criticized the largest opposition group, the Republican People's Party, and the Nationalist Movement Party for refusing to support the negotiation process.
"They stand by death, killing and crying while we are standing by life and joy," he said.
More than 40,000 people have been killed in the 30-year fight by the Kurdistan Workers Party for an independent Kurdish area in southeastern Turkey. The government began negotiations in October with Abdullah Ocalan, the party's imprisoned leader, in an effort to convince his group to disarm.
