DEM Party declares it finds Bahçeli's Öcalan remarks 'positive': 'The return of solution discussions to the agenda...'

The DEM Party has published a results declaration regarding the Party Assembly meeting held last week.

The declaration called for the lifting of the isolation imposed on PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in order for a solution to become a genuine option.

The following views were included in the results declaration:

"Our Party Assembly, which met in Ankara on October 21-22, 2024, has evaluated current economic, social, and political developments in the country, the region, and the world, primarily the discussions surrounding the democratic solution to the Kurdish question, as well as the intensifying war conditions that have dire consequences for the lives and futures of all Middle Eastern peoples; in light of these assessments, it has determined its political and organizational goals and made decisions regarding its struggle program.

We are going through a period in which the war tendency inherent in imperialist capitalist competition is gaining strength and prevalence. We are passing through conditions where the possibility of local/regional proxy wars being replaced by direct and total confrontation between major powers is emerging. The climate of war, which is expanding its field and intensifying to shape the future of regimes and societies in the Middle East, is one of the primary consequences of these developments. It is intended to establish a new order in the Middle East through these power wars, which are an aspect of the struggle for dominance by capitalist hegemonic powers. In this context, the Zionist Israeli regime has turned its occupier-colonialist aggression into a genocide against the Palestinian and Arab peoples, ignoring all rules of international law, especially the laws of war. In this process, where the Israeli state's attacks on Lebanon and Iran are attempting to destabilize Lebanon and reshape regional power balances with new moves against Iran, all tensions in the region are escalating and developments are gaining extraordinary speed.

NEWBORN SCANDAL

Turkey and Kurdistan are located right in the middle of this geography and complex equation. In these days when peoples most need to wrest their right to determine their own destiny and future from the hands of the sovereigns, those who will unleash this potential are the revolutionary movements, women, socialists, the oppressed, the poor, the laborers, and their alliances, primarily the Kurdish people's movement, which marches at the forefront of the struggle against colonialism and fascism with its ideological-political horizon and organized power.

The liquidation of the gangs placed by the AKP-MHP government in the regions it occupies, which has been trying to stifle the gains of the peoples of Rojava, Northern and Eastern Syria for years, is on the agenda. The policies of occupation and annexation towards Southern Kurdistan have entered a serious impasse. It views the possibility of the Kurdish people living in the region gaining strength as a decisive political subject with the encirclement of Iran as a handicap and impasse for its own expansionist policies. For the regime, whose ambitions to become a regional power by destroying the gains of the Kurdish people have been thwarted and which has become isolated in foreign policy, these developments also significantly affect internal political balances.

The AKP-MHP government, which remains outside the equation in Middle Eastern developments due to the expansionist and colonialist policies it implements, has left the peoples of Turkey facing a dangerous political reality. The policies of war, rent-seeking, and plunder have created a danger of social decay and collapse. Millions, except for a handful of capitalists, are trying to survive below the hunger threshold. Even the 1980 coup constitution is being suspended, and the peoples' demands for freedom and life are being suppressed with violence. The crises and spiral of violence in the social, economic, ecological, and gender spheres have brought all social segments to a point where they cannot breathe. Prisons have turned into torture centers, and crimes against women and children have reached blood-curdling prevalence. Hospitals have been turned into commercial enterprises and patients into customers; even the safety of newborn babies is no longer guaranteed.

As part of the government's war policy, multi-faceted and continuous attacks have been carried out against democratic politics, primarily the HDP Closure Case and the Kobani Conspiracy Case. However, despite all this, as seen in the local elections, the strengthening of our party's founding and decisive role in the political arena with its 3rd Way line and its continued status as the hope and option of the peoples has weakened the hegemony of the AKP-MHP government.

BAHÇELİ'S 'ÖCALAN' CALL

The discussions that began with the statements of MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli with the new legislative term are being closely followed by our party and the public. We consider these discussions important in terms of addressing political, economic, and social problems, especially the Kurdish question, on a ground of negotiation and dialogue. However, we also remember from past experiences that the government, which leaves society breathless with its policies, gains nothing by instrumentalizing peace, which is the greatest longing of the peoples. Softening the political climate with a temporary and tactical step to appease the reaction of the peoples against the attempt to liquidate the gains of the Kurdish people, economic collapse, and social decay will not contribute to the solution of existing problems. It is also impossible for this policy to yield the results the government hopes for.

Our party, which has been struggling for years to expand the anti-war front and socialize the demand for peace under all conditions by paying great prices, will not allow normalization rhetoric to be used to mask existing problems from our peoples. It is positive that solution discussions have returned to the agenda; however, it is clear that repeating the 'surrender' rhetoric of the past will not contribute to the solution of the Kurdish question, which is a political, historical, and social problem, and Turkey's problems.

While our party values all interlocutors and parties for the solution of social problems, it believes that the real solution is possible not by waiting for the government, but by building an organized process in which all workers, laborers, oppressed segments, and peoples of Turkey participate, and it has been struggling for this for years. As the DEM Party, we are in favor of a solution that is fair, democratic, and based on the equality of peoples; we defend peace, a democratic constitution, freedom, and a democratic republic. On this basis, if there is to be a solution in Turkey, it is essential that society organizes around the demand for peace and democracy, mobilizes with all its dynamics, participates in the process, and takes initiative. Peace cannot exist only between political parties and sides; social ownership is also required. Therefore, a permanent solution must be built with the common will and struggle of the peoples.

'WE BELIEVE PEACE IS THE MOST URGENT NEED OF THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY AND THE MIDDLE EAST'

One of the first and most important steps for peace and a solution to become a genuine option is the lifting of the isolation imposed on Mr. Abdullah Öcalan, which is a practice of special war law. Öcalan's critical and decisive role in the conduct and management of past solution processes is indisputable. Although the last meeting held with Öcalan after 43 months, breaking the absolute incommunicado, is important and positive, the isolation continues. As he himself stated with the expression, 'If conditions are created, I have the theoretical and practical power to move this process from a ground of conflict and violence to a legal and political ground,' ensuring his health, safety, and free working conditions, primarily his physical freedom, is of vital importance for him to fulfill this decisive mission and for the path to social peace to be opened. The ground for negotiation and dialogue can only be genuine, permanent, and inclusive if established under free and equal conditions. We believe that peace is the most urgent need not only of the Kurdish people but of all the peoples of Turkey and the Middle East. An honorable peace to be achieved in Turkey will also be the peace of the Middle East, where peoples have been pitted against each other for centuries and which has essentially been turned into a center of war. The difficulties of building a permanent, fair, and honorable peace, and the intermittent and fluctuating nature of this path, which sometimes includes conflictual processes, are known from world experiences.

'WE CALL ON ALL POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SEGMENTS TO EXPAND THE POSSIBILITIES FOR PEACE'

Our party, which has been struggling for decades for peoples to live together on an equal basis and in peace, will continue to fulfill its responsibility to create conditions for living together and to expand the hope for peace with determination, just as it did yesterday. Informing the public about the gains of peace, explaining the necessity of peace, and showing that the struggle for a democratic republic is mandatory are among our primary goals. As the DEM Party, while we continue to struggle with determination for a future where all peoples can live an equal, free, and honorable life, we call on all political and social segments to expand and embrace the possibilities for peace for the fair and democratic solution of the Kurdish question and for freedom."

News Source: 12punto