NEWS CENTER - Former HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş said, "Öcalan is the most effective peace-maker in the conflict situation inside and outside of Turkey's borders. No progress can be made on the road to peace without his support and contribution. The PKK does not listen to anyone other than Öcalan."

 

Former Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş wrote an article with the title "New Solution Process" in Yeni Yaşam newspaper. Demirtaş pointed to the role of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is being held under severe isolation conditions in Imralı Prison, regarding the establishment of peace and said, “The most effective peace-maker in the situation of conflict inside and outside of Turkey is Öcalan. No progress can be made on the road to peace without his support and contribution. The PKK does not listen to anyone other than Öcalan.” 

 

Demirtaş's article is as follows: "Will it happen? Yes, ofcourse it will. Sooner or later. The Kurdish question will be solved peacefully through dialogue and negotiation. I consider this a matter of principle, not by looking at the rumors of solutions being discussed these days. Pervin Buldan pointed out very clearly that the AKP is not seeking a solution, on the contrary, it is going through a dissolution. Let's set the facts. An intense discussion started with the Gemlik march against the isolation and the rumor that someone will be allowed to a meeting in İmralı.

 

Will there be a letter from Öcalan regarding the election? Will HDP and AKP get closer? Will a process start again? Will the Kurds remain neutral in the elections? These and similar questions and various answers were listed one after the other.

Although the statements made by the HDP are appropriate and explanatory, the discussions will obviously not end. There is no harm in discussing, everyone can discuss these things, and it is useful to do so. However, discussions without revealing some facts and making determinations will not yield correct results.

 

Let's evaluate these questions and answers.

 

* Isolation is a method of torture that is unlawful and immoral. To defend isolation is to defend torture. Like everyone else in prison, Mr. Öcalan has the right to meet with his family and lawyers within the framework of the law. Saying "Let the isolation be lifted" is neither a crime nor it is wrong. To defend the opposite is immoral and to be a complicit in that torture.

 

* Isolation is politically wrong as well. Öcalan's ability to speak does not intensify the conflict, but leads to a possibility of a solution. Haven't we witnessed that he tried this many times at every opportunity and made calls for peace?

 

* Opposing the solution process is openly advocating for war. To speak of the peace process as a cursed bogeyman is to defend death, not life. However, everyone has the right to criticise the method, way and procedure of the peace process and to make suggestions.

 

* It is absolutely wrong and unfair to present Öcalan as a person supporting the AKP. Mr. Öcalan does not hesitate to evaluate even the smallest opportunity for peace. Besides, he is experienced enough not to sacrifice his hopes for peace in an election.

 

* To date, Öcalan has not and will not give a single instruction to the HDP. There is no such method. He makes suggestions and calls with justifications. These suggestions and calls are always on the agenda in the authorized organs of every political party, as well as in the HDP, they are taken seriously and evaluated, but the HDP administration is both the decision-making body and the will.

 

* Öcalan is the most influential peace-maker in the conflict situation inside and outside the borders of Turkey. No progress can be made on the road of peace without his support and contribution. The PKK does not listen to anyone other than Öcalan.

 

* The address of democratization and the final solution is the Parliament. The interlocutor in the parliament is the HDP, all other political parties and the society itself.

 

* At the moment, the AKP has no intention, capacity or qualification for a solution. The AKP is a weak will that is deeply immersed in injustice, oppression and corruption, it is in the process of dissolution, and is running out of time. Every step teh AKP takes will mean nothing more than small and cheap calculations for the elections. 

 

* The HDP base and the Kurdish voters are an experienced, conscious, political and organised force. They know very well what is what, and they will clearly show what they will do when the day comes. Any move from the AKP aimed at deceiving and confusing these people will bounce back against the will of the people.

 

* It would be better for the opposition to put forward its own solution strategy in the Kurdish issue, instead of carrying out speculative debates about if the AKP will initiate a new peace process or whether this is a game or not. Unless the opposition does this, the government will continue to exploit the Kurdish problem and the peace process. What I mean is not a new solution process with the AKP, but the fact that the opposition has already outlined what kind of solution they propose if they come to power after the election. If the Kurdish issue is to be resolved peacefully and with Turkey's unity, it is very necessary and important for Turkey's future that all the opposition, including the HDP, agree on a common solution strategy.

 

This is what I think about this."