The DEM Party released the final declaration of its Party Assembly meeting, underlining that since the Freedom Movement has withdrawn its guerrilla forces from within Turkey’s borders, “the necessary legal and political steps must be implemented without delay.”
The statement from the Party Assembly reads as follows:
“Our Party Assembly held its regular meeting on October 27, 2025, in Ankara. During the meeting, we thoroughly discussed the political agenda, the state of our organization, the activities of our Parliamentary Group, and our preparations for the upcoming 2026 budget discussions. On this basis:
1-The Peace and Democratic Society Process, which has been the country’s main agenda for over a year, was evaluated. The duties and responsibilities that fall on our party for the success of this process were reconsidered. As is known, the PKK, which dissolved itself at its 12th Congress, announced on October 26, 2025, that it would withdraw all its armed forces from within Turkey’s borders. This development should be regarded as an important turning point for democracy, the rule of law, and social peace; therefore, the necessary legal and political steps must be implemented immediately. Our peoples’ determination to end years of pain, loss, and destruction is clear.
This step must be sincerely supported so that politics, not violence, and democratic solutions, not war, take precedence. Because peace becomes permanent not only when the guns fall silent but also when equal citizenship and democratic rights are guaranteed. Our Co-Chairs, in their statement on October 27, expressed our party’s position regarding the general process and the Kurdish movement’s latest decision to withdraw its armed forces. We reaffirm our determination to take every responsibility, as we always have, to ensure that the Peace and Democratic Society Process is not derailed and that peace and equality take root in these lands. The building of peace and a democratic society will open the way for an equal and free life for everyone living here. The future of this country will be determined not by the shadow of weapons but by the common will of its people.
2-Once again, Turkey faces unlawful practices, injustice, and repression directed by the ruling power. The recent operations against the CHP are not merely attacks on a single party but open assaults on all democratic opposition and the will of the people. The government, which has been using the judiciary as a political tool against the opposition, now resorts to “espionage” accusations.
We are also witnessing developments leading to the appointment of trustees to media outlets. The accusations against TELE1 and journalist Merdan Yanardağ are baseless and intended to suppress the media. We strongly condemn the repression and trustee practices targeting the press. The forces of democracy will not remain silent in the face of these actions. We will strengthen our solidarity with ethical values, our belief in democracy, and our determination to struggle.
3-The process of discussing and approving the 2026 state budget has begun. It is well known that budgets are the most important political documents for governments because they clearly reveal their political priorities. By examining a budget, one can see how a government collects and distributes national resources, whether it acts fairly, transparently, and equitably. In the 2026 budget proposal, the AKP government’s political preferences are evident. We reject this budget, which takes from the poor and gives to the rich. This draft budget contains nothing that can secure the future of workers, women, or young people.
It prioritizes war, weapons spending, and capital; relies on exploitation and precarity; and channels funds to policies that reinforce male domination, religious manipulation, and environmental destruction. This budget has no labor, no peace, no equality. It is a budget of “haves” for capital and “have-nots” for workers. Our Party Assembly is determined to expand the struggle for a people’s and egalitarian budget under the slogan “BREAD–PEACE” throughout November and December. We will implement an action program centered on minimum wage, pensioners, deepening poverty, and the peace agenda; organize marches on Ankara from five directions; and take to the streets alongside all democratic and labor forces to oppose the government’s 2026 budget proposal with the demands of the people. We call on all who demand a peace economy and a people’s budget to unite in strong opposition to this capitalist system that creates an impoverished country and a deprived society, to expand the struggle, and to build cooperation.
4-The proposed “11th Judicial Package,” debated publicly in various forms, is not an instrument of justice but of control, denial, and repression. It is an attempt to legislate discrimination. What is needed today is to change laws that are unequal and undemocratic. Instead of more restrictive changes through harsher penalties, comprehensive and libertarian legal reforms must be enacted. While the people’s demand for justice and democracy remains a fundamental issue, this judicial package contains not a single provision to address those demands.
On the contrary, it deepens anti-democratic practices and paves the way for hate crimes. Every citizen, regardless of culture, language, faith, gender identity, or sexual orientation, deserves equal rights and a dignified life. Respecting this is the precondition for a democratic society. As the DEM Party, we view this judicial package as an attack on our belief in living together with all our differences. We are determined to take to the streets to strengthen the struggle for equality, freedom, justice, and peace, and to expand our alliances in this cause.
We are not without hope. Because the organized power of the people is greater than any repression. Because the honorable people of this country continue to struggle tirelessly for equality, freedom, and peace.”