The Kurdish issue began with the Kurds' feelings of exclusion and discrimination and must be resolved

According to Kurdistan Press, Ibrahim Kalin, the head of the Turkish Intelligence Agency (MIT), answered questions from Oxford University researcher Ghaleb Dalai at the conference "Searching for a New Regional Social Contract in the Middle East" held in Ankara in cooperation with the Turkish Middle East Studies Center (ORSAM) and the World Orders Program and the Center for World History at Oxford University. Kalın spoke at the meeting about the Kurdish issue, the process of disarming the PKK, the return of its members to Turkey, democratic reforms and the situation of the Kurds in Syria, and emphasized that the end of armed activity alone cannot provide the basis for a lasting solution to the Kurdish issue.

The head of the Turkish Intelligence Agency said that the current process should proceed simultaneously on the two pillars of "disarmament" and "democratization" and that ignoring either of these two dimensions would leave the process incomplete: "Disarmament is one of the pillars of this process, and the other pillar is further democratization and carrying out democratic reforms. If you limit the process to only one of these two, it will remain single-pillared; while it should move on two pillars."

He added that the continued presence of weapons is incompatible with democratic participation and political integration; however, disarmament alone will not solve the existing problems and steps must be taken towards democratization, political inclusion and social integration.