Spain restarts dialogue with secessionist Catalans

ANKARA

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met Wednesday with Catalonia’s President Pere Aragones in a resumption of talks aimed at resolving an ongoing crisis caused by the autonomous region’s separatist movement, said local sources.

Following the roughly two-hour meeting, the two leaders expressed optimism by recognizing that the meeting itself was an important development to find a solution to the problem Spain has faced since the constitutional crisis of 1978, the Spanish daily El Pais reported.

While Sanchez insisted that the most important thing now is to work “without haste and deadlines," Aragones said "we need progress beyond deadlines," the newspaper said.

The newspaper also highlighted that the two leaders acknowledged that their positions are very far apart.

Sanchez remains concentrated on the agenda of the reunion of Catalonia with the rest of the country while Aragones insists on self-determination for Catalonia and amnesty for secessionist Catalan figures charged by the Spanish judiciary for their role in pro-independence demonstrations and a referendum in 2017.

​​​​​​​*Writing by Ahmet Gencturk