Baykal: "Ethnic identity is about honor"

Ethnic identity is "a person's honor and a source of pride for the state," main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said yesterday. Speaking at his party's Agriculture and Farmer Assembly meeting in southeastern province of Sanliurfa, Baykal said that different ethnic identities didn't threaten the state, but rather they were wealth of the country. Blaming terrorism, Baykal said no one has the right to harm innocent people. "We shall stay away from terrorism, and not back terrorists even indirectly, but we'll try to convince them for peaceful means," the CHP leader stated. Concerning the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government's recent initiative to increase investments as part of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP), Baykal urged the premier to complete the project soon. "GAP is a project for Turkey's peace and prosperity and aims to end regional unfairness," added Baykal. Meanwhile, CHP's tour of the region began with a tragic accident when the secretary general of the party's youth branch, Ersin Caldir, lost his life after hitting his head on a bridge while traveling on top of the party bus.