HÜDAPAR Chairman Yapıcıoğlu evaluates MHP Chairman Bahçeli's remarks on Öcalan

Zekeriya Yapıcıoğlu stated, "The violence and terror of the PKK are a result. They are not the problem itself. Engaging in armed action and carrying out terrorist acts is, of course, a problem; there is no debate about that."

Yapıcıoğlu expressed, "The organization is not the representative of the Kurds. It cannot represent the Kurds on its own. If any party does not represent the entire nation, the same applies to the Kurds."

Yapıcıoğlu said, "No one should feel like an outsider. If necessary, there can be legal, constitutional changes, and administrative measures. A paradigm shift is needed. That is how the internal front will be strengthened."

HÜDAPAR Chairman Zekeriya Yapıcıoğlu answered questions from Mehmet Akif Ersoy on Habertürk TV.

Highlights from Yapıcıoğlu's speech:

"IT HAS STARTED TO REPEAT"

I did not expect it at this intensity. This led to interpretations that this matter had been discussed beforehand and that certain agreements had been reached. There have been leaked reports in the press on this subject for a few months. There is Mr. Bahçeli's address to İmralı, and his remarks, by referring to the statement from a week prior, saying 'let the isolation be lifted, let him come and speak at the DEM group.' A process was experienced before.

We experienced the democratic opening and the solution process. The process began to collapse in late 2014. Different things were said. Why was it not resolved? We are back at the same point now regarding what we said at the very beginning of this process. Many people have started to repeat what we said back then.

If the two sides are far apart, it is not possible for a solution to emerge from what is meant by a solution. We infer the following from both the President and Mr. Bahçeli—Mr. Özel also said similar things—that there should be no weapons and no blood should be shed. Weapons and violence must certainly come to an end. Blood should never be shed again. It must absolutely be ended.

"ENGAGING IN TERRORIST ACTS IS CERTAINLY A PROBLEM"

If someone is making a claim of rights, weapons are not a legitimate method. They must absolutely know this. Seeing the problem as consisting only of this will not lead us to the right result. There is a problem at hand; this is a result. The violence and terror of the PKK are a result. They are not the problem itself. Engaging in armed action and carrying out terrorist acts is, of course, a problem; there is no debate about that. If steps are to be taken in the sense of resolving it, we would consider that valuable. If there is anything that falls to us, we will fulfill our responsibility. We have not had any contact with the AK Party and MHP regarding this issue. I think all political parties should be a part of this. This is a political, rights, and legal issue. If the aspects of this issue that relate to the constitution are to be brought to the table, it concerns all political parties. If the matter is a question of rights and law, something that is a fundamental right should not be made a subject of bargaining or be conditional.

"THE ORGANIZATION IS NOT THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE KURDS"

During the solution process, it was said, 'let the organization lay down its arms first.' The organization is not the representative of the Kurds. It cannot represent the Kurds on its own. If any party does not represent the entire nation, the same applies to the Kurds. If someone has a weapon in their hand and someone else is making a legitimate demand, and you set a condition saying, 'I recognize this right, but first the people with weapons in their hands must lay them down,' what is the sin of the citizen who wants to attain their right?

"MR. BAHÇELİ'S MOVE IS ALSO SIGNIFICANT IN THIS SENSE"

It was during the 2013 Nevruz, if I remember correctly. Abdullah Öcalan's letter was read in Diyarbakır. He also made a call to lay down arms there. What happened? The weapons were not taken out of the equation. If a call is made now and the weapons are taken out of the equation, I hope, I wish they will be. Mr. Bahçeli will explain piece by piece in the coming period why he said this. For someone who is a Turkish nationalist, who seems to be at the exact opposite pole, to make such a call is more effective than a call from someone else.

I hope they have seen that nothing can be achieved with weapons and violence. If they have something else on their agenda, then they will raise the stakes. I said this for those who have weapons in their hands. If the goal of Kandil is not to achieve some of their demands, but to play hard to get as much as possible, they might raise the stakes to a level that the Republic of Turkey cannot accept. Mr. Bahçeli's move is also significant in this sense; Öcalan is in İmralı, and DEM is in Parliament.

Those in Kandil are much more fragmented. It is something like a multinational corporation. There are cliques with connections in Tehran, Damascus, Tel Aviv, Brussels, and Washington. They all call Abdullah Öcalan 'our leader,' but we know that some of the moves Öcalan makes do not serve their interests.

"THERE IS A BROTHERHOOD OF MORE THAN A THOUSAND YEARS"

We say that Kurds are among the original founders of this place. They are original. We said that Kurds should feel this. The solution lies here as well. There is a brotherhood of more than 1,000 years. It is necessary not to repeat the mistakes that damage the law of this brotherhood. Also, not to repeat the mistakes made during the solution process. During the solution process, Öcalan was the leader in prison, and after the solution process, he emerged as the leader of the people. This is an injustice done to the Kurds. The state sitting on one side and sitting a party or an armed organization on the other, and in the lines between the lines, in the background, going to the environment by saying to the Kurds, 'your representatives are here, we are bargaining with them.' Those who had weapons in their hands did not lay them down; they took maximum advantage of this. They kicked the table and overturned it.

"NO ONE SHOULD FEEL LIKE AN OUTSIDER"

If you again see them as the representatives of the Kurdish people and sit them across from you in a similar way. DEM Party Co-Chair Hatimoğulları said, 'The place for the Kurdish issue is the Parliament, the interlocutor is the DEM Party.' They had previously said, 'The will is İmralı.' Why the DEM Party? They were saying, 'If you are going to talk about this issue, you will talk to us.' Mr. Bahçeli said, 'Let İmralı come and speak at the DEM Party Group.' I don't expect this to happen immediately. The President said the internal front should be solidified and strengthened. This cannot happen only with the end of violence. No one should feel like an outsider. If necessary, there can be legal, constitutional changes, and administrative measures. A paradigm shift is needed. That is how the internal front will be strengthened.

"OPPRESSIONS ARE CONSTANTLY MULTIPLYING"

We do not see this threat only today. This threat exists because of the structure of Zionism. Because the Zionist entity continues to exist there, it is a threat to those in the region and even to humanity. They have been doing this since 1948. Oppressions are constantly multiplying. What they have done since October 7, 2023, has opened the eyes of even the blind. At first, they named the event the Israel-Arab war. Then they downsized it to the Israel-Palestine, Israel-Gaza, and Israel-Hamas war. In fact, Israel has declared war on all human values and international law.

It is not just hitting mosques, it is hitting churches, it is hitting hospitals, it is killing children, it is hitting a children's hospital with a phosphorus bomb; is there anything beyond this? It is throwing bombs at people waiting to get a sip of water from aid convoys. It is not doing this only to the Palestinians. If it finds the power in its hands, it will kill all of humanity. If they could, they would kill billions of people. They have an ideology called the Promised Land. We all have a homeland. Israel sees the property that is deeded in my name as its own property.

This threat is not a threat to be taken lightly. Israel does not consist only of Israel. The one who actually plans these massacres, stands behind them, and provides the weapons, ammunition, intelligence, and the project is America itself. Look at the social media account that shares posts about Palestine. Look at those who criticize it severely, and you will see who they are. When a Kurd makes a post drawing attention to the oppression in Gaza, people close to the PKK react. When you open and look at the profiles, you see it clearly. If it turns its direction to the north after Lebanon, starting a new occupation operation there in a sense like a pincer is one of the plans being discussed.

NEW CONSTITUTION DEBATE

The constitution was made in 1921. The Parliament was opened on April 23, 1920. It both managed the War of Independence and the state was founded. There are those who react violently to the 1921 Constitution. How was the Republic proclaimed? The legal and political text that builds the roof of the state in terms of the constitution. On October 29, 1923, when the Republic was proclaimed, an amendment was made to the 1921 constitution. The Constitution was made in 1924. The constitution was made with a coup in 1961.

In the 1924 constitution, a provision was included that the form of the state being a republic could not be changed. The sultanate had just been abolished. In the '61 Constitution, it was said that 'there is no desire for anyone to return to the sultanate.' The legal team that wrote the 1982 Constitution also said, 'The provision that the form of the state is a Republic cannot be changed.' To us, this is sufficient. Kenan Evren said, 'You had written this in Article 9, I changed this and arranged it as Article 4,' he said.

What is said to be unchangeable here is Article 3, and the qualifications of the Republic in Article 2. Article 1 is also 'the form of the state is a republic, it cannot be changed.' Some insistently say these are the founding values of the Republic. We say that it is not right to have unchangeable provisions in the constitution. I say, 'having unchangeable articles in the constitution is the dead ruling the living,' as a European jurist said. I have no proposal against changing the Constitution today, but tomorrow my child might say so. How many supporters can come out saying let the sultanate return. If I, as a member of Parliament, do not speak, who will speak?

As Mr. Kurtulmuş said, the state does not have a nation, the nation has a state. The Ottoman Empire collapsed, the nation did not disappear. But the Ottoman Empire is gone now. Some cannot say, 'you are pariahs, we are your owners.'

News Source: 12punto