Ahmet Türk reacts to the new execution package! 'Disappointment'

Speaking at a panel titled "The Right to Hope and Peace" organized by the Mardin Branch of the Lawyers for Freedom Association (ÖHD), Imralı Delegation member Ahmet Türk criticized the 10th Judicial Package, stating that it did not respond to expectations.

Türk stated, "Specifically, a nation-state was created with the 1924 Constitution. Nation-states follow a policy aimed at melting down other identities. For this reason, the state had such a policy for a long time aimed at assimilating many different identities and groups, and it carried out this policy. Other groups, apart from the Kurds, were almost assimilated. But the Kurds, by truly carrying out a strong struggle for freedom, have been able to survive until today."

Recounting a dialogue that took place during their meeting with PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in Imralı, Ahmet Türk said the following:

"He spoke of the 1993 process. We had held a meeting in Lebanon at that time. Opportunities had emerged for a peace process to begin alongside a ceasefire. But while we were still in Damascus, when we received the news of Özal's passing, we began to think that this matter was completely over. And that is indeed what happened. Mr. Öcalan expressed that they were determined in 1993 and stated the following: 'We have been repeating the same things for 32 years. This does not lead us to a result. There is a need for a new era, a new understanding, a democratic republic, and a democratic nation. Today, we must rebuild the friendship and the brotherhood that comes from the past between the Turkish and Kurdish peoples.' He even gave examples from history. 'During the Great Seljuk period, whenever the Kurds supported the Great Seljuks, the Seljuks began to spread to Khorasan and many places in Anatolia. That is, they only came to this geography with the support of the Shaddadids.' He expressed this."

BAHÇELİ: IF I HAD MADE POLITICAL CALCULATIONS, I WOULD NOT HAVE MADE SUCH A CALL TODAY

Touching upon the meetings they held with political party representatives following their meeting with Öcalan, Ahmet Türk recalled that they held a meeting with MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli in this context, and conveyed that Bahçeli said, "If I had made political calculations, I would not have made such a call today. I would not have entered such a path. But when we look at the Middle East, when we look at the world, and when we look at the point Turkey has reached, we must realize Kurdish and Turkish brotherhood."

"OUR HOPE IS THE START OF A PROCESS IN OCTOBER THAT WILL RESPOND TO OUR EXPECTATIONS"

Ahmet Türk also said the following regarding the new execution package:

"There are criticisms, and even distrust. Regarding the fact that these are not sincere. Actually, we saw this sincerity. But it must be said clearly that our concerns grew because a process that would meet expectations did not begin in the recent period, especially before the holiday. But I believe that this process will continue. However, the execution law they put forward today, and the fact that there is nothing in this execution law and that it is at a point that will not meet our expectations, created a disappointment for us. We hope that a process will begin in October that will respond to our expectations."

THE DISARMAMENT OF THE SDF

Pointing to some discussions regarding the disarmament of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Türk noted the following:

"Well, when there is a power vacuum, when the state has no power in Rojava, no police, no military, and when there are 55 thousand ISIS militants, women, and children in a place like the Hol Camp, how will the Kurds lay down their arms and ensure security? They say 'Let them lay down their arms' without even thinking about this. There is no security, the regime has no power, the regime has no chance to control it. The armed force that the Kurds have created today emerged only as a force aimed at defending themselves. Today, the ISIS threat has still not passed. When they lay down their arms today, it means that tens of thousands of ISIS militants in those camps will be reactivated and will plunge Syria into blood again. I wanted to express this in particular. I personally had criticisms regarding the party taking this into account and not bringing this issue to the agenda. One must approach it with such logic."