Erdogan-Barzani 'Diyarbakir encounter' milestone

Cengiz Candar

Nov 20, 2013

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (R) and President of Iraqi Kurdistan Masoud Barzani greet people during a ceremony in Diyarbakir November 16, 2013. The president of Iraqi Kurdistan called on Turkey's Kurds to back a flagging peace process with Ankara on Saturday, making his first visit to southeastern Turkey in two decades in a show of support for PM Erdogan. Barzani's trip to Diyarbakir, the main city in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast, comes as Ankara finalises billions of dollars of energy d — Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and President of Iraqi Kurdistan Massoud Barzani greet people during a ceremony in Diyarbakir, Nov. 16, 2013. — REUTERS

Last weekend Turkey lived through many "firsts" at Diyarbakir, which is seen by all Kurds — not only the ones in Turkey — as their "spiritual center."

The weekend meeting, labeled as the "Diyarbakir encounter," bringing together Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani, was choreographed by Erdogan. It was, above all, a phenomenal public relations achievement for the prime minister.