Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday vowed to continue the fragile peace process between the government and the country's Kurdish minority which looked threatened by a weekend of rallies sparked by the death of a young protester.
"This problem didn't start yesterday and it will need a lot of work and patience," he said at a weekly meeting of his deputies from the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP).
"Everyone needs to stay calm and be patient," he said, vowing that "nothing" would stop him from completing a full reconciliation with Turkey's estimated 15 million Kurds. "The peace process will continue," he said.
Erdogan claimed the protests and the kidnap of a sergeant released on Monday were organized by the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) members which, he claimed, were unhappy that a supply route for alleged drug trafficking would be threatened by an increased police presence in the area.
"We must uncover the true motivation for these events," Erdogan said. "What was really behind the incident in Lice was cannabis."
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