Tuncer Bakırhan's critical jab at IMM investigations: 'They would cry if they stayed inside for 3 days'

A striking statement came from Tuncer Bakırhan, who spoke as part of the 'Peace and Democratic Society Meetings' organized by the DEM Party Ankara Organization. Referring to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) investigations, Bakırhan said, "They would turn state's evidence if they stayed inside for 3 days, they would cry their eyes out and say 'save me,' yet they ask 'why are people who served 33 years being released?'"

DEM Party Co-Chair Tuncer Bakırhan attended the 'Peace and Democratic Society Meetings' program organized by the DEM Party Ankara Provincial Organization at the TMMOB Chamber of Mechanical Engineers Congress Center. Bakırhan said the following at the opening of the program:

'SOMEONE WHO WOULD TURN STATE'S EVIDENCE IF THEY STAYED INSIDE FOR 3 DAYS'

"They don't say 'let the coffins of the youth come' directly, but they ask why people who have been in prison for 33 years are being released. Look, this unjust legal system handed down this sentence. 33 years is not easy to say. Those who fall apart in 3 months are saying this. Those who would turn state's evidence if they stayed inside for 3 days, who would cry their eyes out and say 'save me,' are asking 'why are people who served 33 years being released?' It is truly difficult to understand.

If you ask me what the most shameful thing in the world is, I would say it is opposing peace. Could there be anything more shameful than opposing peace? I have also talked about the pro-government media; they are already saying something new, and we are trying to understand what they are saying. The same language, no change at all, no effort at all. There is a perception as if peace is only the business of the Kurds. There is no one else in the field besides us, no one else putting their mind to it. I mean, I don't want to be unfair, friends like you are outside of this bracket. They are also engaging in war-mongering on the screens. Something happens in As-Suwayda, Syria, and they say 'watch out, developments here might allow the Kurds to gain rights.' Everything is about the Kurds. We live in a strange country where everything is about the rights and status that the Kurds might obtain."

'THERE ARE THOSE WHO ARE HAPPY WITH THE SOUND OF WAR'

"Peace is also religiously permissible; religion is built upon peace. Peace is likely one of the most frequently mentioned words in religion. Socially, it is also about the people. There can be nothing more correct than the Kurds or any other social base seeking peace. Economically, peace is actually the greatest investment we will make in our youth and our future. That is why we will insist on this peace process. A century ago, when we talked about peace as a founding element; in this ground where many things were actually discussed and decided, unfortunately, a century later, there are those who are happy with the sound of war.

There is a base that is unhappy with peace. Why would peace make people unhappy? It is difficult to understand that. Think about it, there is an approach that cannot even stomach the release of people who have served their sentences and were kept for a few extra years just because they read too many books or danced. It is a bit strange for circles we would define as opposition to do this. There is almost a race to trample on the honor of the Kurdish language."

'THE POSITION OF THE OPPOSITION MEDIA IS WRONG'

"This process is such a process that it is not a process that will proceed only with political parties and party leaders coming together, or with a commission to be established in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. On the contrary, it is a process that we will carry out together, in which civil society and organized bases outside the parliament will also actively participate. This is not a process carried out only by Kurds or where only the Kurdish issue is discussed.

You are right, there is a different perception outside, and other discussions are taking place in the public eye. A part of the media is writing headlines saying the country is being divided; they are looking for trouble where there is none, so to speak. They pick two words out of a 3-page text and create a perception based on that. It surprised us a lot. The position of the opposition media should not have been this. There is no need to talk about the pro-government media. They are already engaging in war-mongering as if something new has been invented and such a process is being discussed for the first time in the world. Their language has not changed yet. A language suitable for the call for peace and a democratic society is not yet being used.

But we are trying to overcome this with society, with the people, with the laborers. We have come together with tens of thousands of people in nearly 2 thousand meetings. We can discuss very comfortably, we can talk, you can make your criticisms very comfortably. I think it is valuable and precious to talk face-to-face with the direct interlocutors."

News Source: 12punto