ANKARA
Turkey added its voice Friday to international concern over last weekend’s violence in the southern Philippines that threatened the country’s peace process.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said: "We wish God’s mercy upon those who lost their lives, convey our sympathies to their families. We hope that these sad events will not damage the process and the cooperation between the parties."
Earlier in the week, Australia, the U.S., Canada, Spain and Britain were among those who passed messages of support following the violence.
Fighting between government forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, known as the MILF, last Sunday saw 44 police commandos killed in Maguindanao province on the island of Mindanao.
The incident had threatened the peace deal signed between the government and the MILF. The treaty aims to end a decades-long insurgency and establish a new autonomous region in the majority-Muslim provinces of the south under the Bangsamoro Basic Law.
The Foreign Ministry statement stressed the importance Turkey gives to the peace process. The decommissioning body that will oversee the disarming of MILF forces is headed by Hadar Berk, a leading Turkish diplomat and the former representative to NATO.
Last November, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu visited the Philippines and pledged Turkey’s support for the peace process.
Despite the threat to peace, on Thursday the MILF and the government signed a landmark arms decommissioning agreement in Kuala Lumpur.
The deal agrees details of how MILF weaponry and combatants will be put out of use.
