ANKARA - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's foreign policy advisor and a lawmaker from ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party Egemen Bagis has a sent letter to world's major statesmen, politicians and opinion leaders including former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Speaker of U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, Canadian Foreign Secretary Peter McKay and foreign ministers of other countries as well as senior figures from major finance institutions, saying that the AK Party is a political entity for all Turkish citizens, including the Armenian minority in Turkey.
"Turks and Armenians are brothers and sisters. The AK Party aims at maintaining peace and prosperity in both Turkey and in the Caucasus. All citizens of the Turkish Republic, including Armenians, Christians and Jews, are principal and beloved elements of our country," Bagis said in his letter.
"The only way to reach peace, harmony and economic development in Turkey is through establishing a full democracy and Turkish democracy has taken a course from where there is no turning back. AK Party favors a full-fledged democracy based on secularism and the rule of law," he added.
Bagis also said that there is not any Islamic government in Turkey or a row between Islamists and secularists.