‘Iran supports Turkey’s actions to maintain its unity’

TEHRAN,May 19(MNA) – Iran supports any action that Turkey takes to protect its unity and solidarity, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said at a press conference in the Iranian consulate in Istanbul on Friday. Saeed Jalili was referring to the withdrawal of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants from Turkey as part of a peace process between PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and the Turkish government. “We support any action that will increase the integrity of Turkey or Iraq. We support this if it provides the unity and integrity in Turkey,” Hurriyet Daily News quoted Jalili as saying. “We consider Turkey’s security to be the same as our security. Security is an indispensable element. If any factor is strengthening politics, then we welcome it, not only for Turkey but for the regional countries,” he added. The first group of members of the PKK, out of thousand members, entered the Kurdistan region of Iraq to settle in their strongholds on May 14. The PKK members went in response to the call of Ocalan who is serving a life sentence in a Turkish prison, following a peace process between the Ankara government and Ocalan. The full withdrawal may take few months.