Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani on Saturday urged all parties including the PKK (Kurdistan Workers'Party) to stop violence and support the Turkish government’s initiative to solve the Kurdish problem.

Concluding his three-day visit, Barzani also said that PKK's decision to call off the unilateral ceasefire was "a negative development".

Barzani said :“we are against violence, whether it comes from the PKK or others. We will continue to say that acts of violence are wrong”.

And he added that “military measures do not provide the solution. Had wars solved problems, this problem wouldn’t have continued”.

Supporting the AKP so called 'democratic opening' Barzani said that “we believe that the Turkish government's decision is the right one”.

Journalists then asked Barzani about his meeting with the BDP (Peace and Democracy Party). The president answered: “We know there will be many obstacles to the process. But this process should be supported and my advice to all parties, including the BDP, is to avoid creating obstacles”.

Finally some journalist asked Barzani whether he stood by his advice to declare general amnesty for PKK members. Barzani replied that amnesty is part of the initiative yet needs to be done at the right time.

“We discussed with the Turkish government everything that is needed for this process to be supported. If we have a role to play, we are ready to help,” he said.

Barzani was clearly very careful about the phrasing of his speech, as he obviously did not want to 'hurt' the Turkish government.