On the occasion of the International Day of Peace, the Platform for the Protection of the City and Solidarity in Amed (tr. Diyarbakır) (Amed) issued a public statement. Representatives of numerous parties and civil society organizations took part in the event on the central Şêx Seîd Square. A banner displayed by the group read: “Peace is not a favor, but a human right.”
Platform spokesperson Yıldız Ok Orak emphasized that Kurdish society had experienced the consequences of war and violence firsthand and therefore understood the value of peace. Decades of security policy strategies did not resolve the Kurdish question but rather exacerbated it, Orak said.
With regard to the current situation, Ok Orak referred to the speech given by MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli in October 2024, Abdullah Öcalan’s message of February 27, and the symbolic burning of PKK weapons on July 11. These events, she said, ushered in a new phase and demonstrated the political will for peace. “After the disappointments of previous attempts, it is now crucial that steps be taken in a transparent, inclusive, and determined manner. Otherwise, those who want to sabotage or provoke the process will gain the upper hand,” she warned.
Orak also criticized the Turkish media landscape, saying that polarizing language and conflict-ridden reporting further complicated the peace process. Instead, she said, there was a need for pluralistic, objective, and responsible reporting that promoted dialogue. She said it was particularly problematic that the Peace Mothers in the parliamentary commission for resolving the Kurdish question had been denied the right to speak in Kurdish.
Orak recalled that the platform had held talks with all parliamentary parties in January and communicated key demands. These include resolving the Kurdish question through dialogue, a process based on universal human rights, repealing the “trustee law” on the removal of elected mayors, legal steps for the use of the Kurdish language in education and public life, and the start of a civil constitutional process. In addition, she said, Turkey must recognize the rights of Kurds in Syria and implement rulings by the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
“September 1 will only gain historical significance if we take up the fight for a dignified peace—a peace that we need today as urgently as we need bread and water. And this fight requires courage and perseverance,” concluded Yıldız Ok Orak.
The statement was met with applause from those present.