Our Party Spokesperson, Ayşegül Doğan, held a press conference at our headquarters regarding the recent developments.
Doğan stressed the importance of ending the isolation of Mr. Abdullah Öcalan and conveyed his recent message of readiness for dialogue to resolve the Kurdish issue. Doğan spoke about the heightened tensions in Turkey, citing both the recent attack in Ankara and Turkey's airstrikes on North and East Syria. She called on all sides to prioritize peace and dialogue.
Doğan read our Executive Committee's statement regarding the attack in Ankara and another statement about the subsequent airstrikes launched against North and East Syria. She then continued with the following remarks:
For days, calls have been made to Mr. Abdullah Öcalan. Is Mr. Öcalan able to follow these calls, and what does he think about them? How would he like to respond to these calls, and under what conditions? If you do not know the answers to these questions, we, as the DEM Party, do not know either. Because the person who is the main addressee of the calls is under isolation. This is a paradox. This situation needs to be resolved. Conditions must be created for him to participate in these discussions. Otherwise, how can we move forward from here? You might say, “A meeting has been held, so can we say that isolation has been lifted?” Yes, a meeting has been held. The person who met with him is our Urfa MP, Ömer Öcalan, who is also Mr. Öcalan's nephew. His lawyers, family, and we are making routine applications to meet, but this meeting is the first of its kind in years. I would like to reiterate Mr Abdullah Öcalan’s message shared by Ömer Öcalan on his social media account following the meeting: “Isolation continues. If the conditions are right, I have the theoretical and practical power to shift this process from a ground of conflict and violence to a legal and political ground.”
This message, which appears brief, contains several important points. First, he explicitly states that isolation continues. Second, he says that if the conditions are met, he has the theoretical and practical capacity to transform this process from one of conflict and violence to a legal and political framework. Imralı is ready; Mr. Öcalan is ready. Is the (Turkish) state ready? We ask this as the DEM Party. The democratic political arena is ready, and Mr. Öcalan is also ready. Is the state willing to create these conditions, to eliminate isolation, and to establish a legal and political framework for the democratic resolution of the Kurdish issue? A word has been spoken once; now it is time to bring that word to life. An unavoidable, unpostponable, and non-delayed word has been spoken.
Our call is to everyone, from the government to the opposition. In fact, we have been making this call for years. Come, let’s lift the isolation and create conditions for Öcalan to participate directly in these discussions. Do not postpone or delay the words you have spoken. Unfortunately, as we lose time, we are delaying life. Let’s not delay life; let’s embrace it. To those who are following us on their screens, to everyone who directs their attention to us for the resolution of the Kurdish issue, and to those who are curious about what we will say, I would like to say once again on behalf of the DEM Party: As a party that feels the responsibility to share what we have with you as it is, we will not hide any developments from you. Because there is no backdoor diplomacy. There are no hidden meetings from the public. We are at the point we defined days ago. Yes, there are some debates regarding the resolution of the Kurdish issue, but these discussions have not yet evolved into a process that we can call a resolution process.
24 October 2024