DEM Party releases final declaration: Includes demand for a new constitution!

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahçeli’s call, which initiated a new process that continued with the DEM Party’s visits to Imralı to meet with terrorist leader Abdullah Öcalan, remains on the agenda.

The DEM Party issued a statement regarding its Party Assembly (PM) meeting held on February 12, where the new process was discussed.

“The solution perspective developed by Abdullah Öcalan is a historical opportunity for the democratization of Turkey and the establishment of lasting peace,” the statement said, adding that “The DEM Party is aware of the historical responsibility it bears for peace to be real and lasting.”

DEM PARTY NODS TO A NEW CONSTITUTION

Among the demands in the declaration, constitutional amendment was also requested:

"A New Democratic Social Contract: The democratic and political rights of the Kurdish people must be constitutionally guaranteed; a comprehensive, pluralistic, and participatory construction process that will pave the way for democratization in Turkey must be initiated."

The full text of the DEM Party Party Assembly final declaration is as follows:

We dedicate our Party Assembly to all our comrades lost in the revolutionary struggle, in the person of Bereket Kar, who is a symbol of internationalist solidarity and the spirit of common struggle with his unwavering belief in socialism, his struggle for the freedom of oppressed peoples, and his determination to link the fates of the peoples of the Middle East.

Our Party Assembly, which convened in Ankara on February 12, 2025, conducted comprehensive evaluations on the ongoing wars in the Middle East, developments in Syria, the democratic solution to the Kurdish question, the democratization of Turkey, and the problems and common future of our peoples and laborers; in this direction, it has clarified its line of struggle and determined its orientations.

Common resistance of peoples against policies of war, occupation, and exploitation

While war, poverty, and injustice are deepening all over the world, the hope of peoples to live in peace is under a greater threat than ever before. The Middle East has been turned into a battlefield in the grip of imperialist interests, authoritarian regimes, and sectarian conflicts.

The democratic rights of the Kurdish people are being suppressed in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria; the right of peoples to self-determination is being ignored. The Turkish government’s attacks on the Kurdish people create a deadlock that hinders not only the democratic solution to the Kurdish question but also the democratization of Turkey.

The demand for democratic governance by the peoples of North and East Syria is threatened by various imperial and regional actors, primarily Turkey’s military operations and interventionist policies. Turkey’s interventions in Rojava target the democratic will not only of the Kurdish people but also of Arabs, Armenians, Turkmen, Circassians, Syriacs, Alevis, Yazidis, Druze, and all peoples and faiths of the region.

The presence of radical jihadist groups in Syria, Israel’s attacks on Palestine and Lebanon, the forced displacement of Palestinians from their homelands, the deepening of the occupation, and the attempt to depopulate Gaza make the future of peoples uncertain and leave deep wounds in the conscience of humanity.

There is no winner in war; however, the common struggle and solidarity of peoples are the guarantee of peace and freedom. History has shown that the demand for peace is not giving up the struggle, but continuing the struggle with stronger and new tools, and with a broader social solidarity and organization.

The main axis of peace and democratic solution: Equal life together and a new social contract

In Turkey, the Kurdish question has been handled within the framework of denial and annihilation for years and has been left unresolved through security-oriented policies. Against these policies, the rightful demands and resistance of the Kurds have been sought to be suppressed by the state’s apparatus of force. Those who advocate for peace against policies of deadlock and violence have been put under pressure, the will of the people has been usurped by trustees, and democratic paths to a solution have been blocked. Yet, the solution does not lie in policies of denial, annihilation, military operations, and isolation, but in a democratic system where peoples can live together equally and freely.

At this very point, the solution perspective developed by Mr. Abdullah Öcalan is a historical opportunity for the democratization of Turkey and the establishment of lasting peace. Mr. Öcalan’s previous calls for peace created great hope among the peoples of Turkey. His current theses for a solution and calls for democratization will also be a critical turning point for the common future of our peoples. In this context, the main topics of peace and democratic solution are as follows:

Ending Isolation Policies: Lifting the isolation on Mr. Öcalan, ensuring free working conditions, and allowing society to learn directly about developments regarding the peace and democratization process are of vital importance for achieving an honorable peace.

A New Democratic Social Contract: The democratic and political rights of the Kurdish people must be constitutionally guaranteed; a comprehensive, pluralistic, and participatory construction process that will pave the way for democratization in Turkey must be initiated.

Common Citizenship and Equal Life: Everyone living in Turkey has the right to build a common future together as citizens with equal rights. Kurds, Turks, Arabs, Armenians, Syriacs, Roma; Sunnis, Alevis, Yazidis, Christians, Jews, and all other peoples, faiths, and identities must possess all democratic rights, primarily education in their mother tongue and cultural rights, without facing any discrimination.

Turkey Adopting Dialogue and Peace Policies Instead of War in the Middle East: By developing diplomacy based on equal and peaceful relations with all peoples in the region, relations with the peoples of the region, especially the Kurds, should be handled within the framework of democratic negotiation, not on the basis of war and annihilation.

The struggle for peace, justice, and labor is inseparable

Lawlessness and injustice in Turkey are not limited to war policies. The rights of workers and laborers are being usurped, women are subjected to male violence every day, freedom of the press, news, thought, expression, and organization is being interfered with, the right to vote and be elected is being usurped by trustees, and the will of the people is being ignored by court decisions shaped by political calculations.

The struggle for peace, justice, and labor is intertwined. The demands of workers, laborers, women, youth, and oppressed peoples cannot be separated from each other. The struggle for freedom and equality is also the struggle for the right of peoples to live in peace.

It is imperative to socialize the demand for peace and strengthen it on a democratic basis

Despite this dark picture, those who fight for peace and justice continue to resist.

Workers defend their rights in strikes, women do not leave the streets against male violence, and peoples claim their will. Hope sprouts within this common resistance.

Our most urgent task today is to amplify the common voice of the peoples against the order of war and exploitation, and to unite the struggles that defend peace, labor, and justice. We can only build a world without war, oppression, and exploitation by standing side by side in a common struggle in solidarity.

The ground we must rely on is the political ground we will create based on our peoples, our practice of struggle, and our social power. Peace is not just a political decision, but a process that becomes socialized and takes root through the struggle of the people. Peace is an issue that directly concerns all social segments; women, laborers, youth, faith groups, and those conducting ecological struggles. Narrowing the peace process and portraying it as if it were only the issue of a certain segment is a conscious choice of the government. Our duty is to deepen peace in the social sphere and on a democratic basis.

The DEM Party is aware of the historical responsibility it bears for peace to be real and lasting

Our party is a party that bases itself on the principle of dialogue, negotiation, and solution. As it did yesterday, it has always defended and will continue to defend that our peoples build a common life in peace and on the basis of equal citizenship.

The guarantor of peace, dialogue, and democratic solution is the DEM Party. The “Social Peace and Freedom Meetings” we have held in 43 centers with the participation of thousands of people to date, and the “Peace for Freedom” rallies we held in three major cities with the participation of tens of thousands of people, have revealed the peoples’ longing for peace and reinforced the belief in the search for a democratic solution. The public meetings have once again shown how strong our peoples’ belief in, longing for, and desire for peace are.

Acting on all these, in accordance with the mission we have historically undertaken, we will fight more to socialize the demand for peace and strengthen the democratic will of the peoples by standing against the politics of conflict and deadlock.

In this critical process we are in, we will fulfill our responsibility for peace to be real and lasting, expand the negotiation ground of the peoples, and work to make peace not just the demand of political actors, but the common demand of the peoples of Turkey.

We will grow resistance against oppression, peace against war, and the power of labor against exploitation. We will definitely build a just, democratic, and honorable peace with the common will of our peoples. We will win, we will definitely win!

News Source: 12punto