The parliamentary “listening” and “reporting” phases conducted on a resolution track under the “Democratic Society and Peace” process are continuing amid debates surrounding the Kurdish question. Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) MP Sinan Çiftyürek, who spoke to ANF, said the reports submitted by the DEM Party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and the Republican People’s Party (CHP) remain far from offering a solution, adding that the core of the issue lies in constitutional recognition and regional partnership.
Reports offer nothing new
Çiftyürek said that during the first phase of the process, a broad range of actors, from academics and experts to all segments with social representation, were listened to, noting that after Abdullah Öcalan was also heard, political parties presented their perspectives on a solution. Çiftyürek said: “They did not need to write lengthy reports of 100 or 200 pages, because in essence the point they arrive at never changes. They even avoid naming the issue. Texts produced by a mindset that cannot even say ‘the Kurdish question’ represent not a solution but the absence of one. If the monist definition of citizenship in Article 66 of the Constitution and the ban on mother-tongue education in Article 42 remain in place, then hundreds of pages amount to nothing. Unless Kurds are constitutionally recognized, everything else remains mere detail.”
Çiftyürek said the state and the government must assume far more serious responsibility in debates on the socialization of peace, added that the DEM Party has been advancing the process through rallies and public meetings, while society expects concrete steps from the state. Çiftyürek stated that the state must take certain measures for peace to resonate both in Kurdish regions and in western Turkey and said: “If the state does not demonstrate the will to say, ‘Yes, I recognize the existence of Kurds and I enshrine this in the Constitution,’ then the slogan ‘Let children not die’ cannot go beyond a slogan.”
Mother tongue and legal recognition
Çiftyürek said the state must take into account the demands voiced by the Kurdish people on every platform and added: “The existence of Kurds must be acknowledged. Whether we are five million or thirty million is irrelevant; the issue is not numbers, but recognition of our existence. The existence of the Kurdish nation must be placed under constitutional guarantee. Recognition in education and public status is essential. It is not enough for Kurdish to be referred to merely as a ‘permitted language’; it must become a language of education and gain official status in the public sphere.”
Çiftyürek said that the reason thousands of people, from academics to politicians, are imprisoned is the Kurdish question itself, and continued: “Why is Mr. Öcalan in prison today? Is it not because of the Kurdish question? Are not thousands of others imprisoned for the same reason? As an initial step, the Anti-Terror Law must be relaxed. Trustee appointments must end, and the will of the people must be restored. Political exiles must return, and all bans that obstruct politics must be lifted. This is not a solution; it is merely repairing the damage caused by the problem.”
Çiftyürek said Turkey’s regional policies and the threatening language directed at Rojava ignore political realities, arguing that Turkey’s path to growth and becoming a regional power lies in alliance with Kurds. He cited a remark by the head of the Turkish Historical Society, “Kurds were here when Turks arrived” and added: “Without seeing Kurds as strategic allies, you cannot pursue an effective policy either in the Middle East or in the Caucasus. Growing by stepping on Kurds benefits no one; growing hand in hand with Kurds serves the interests of both Turks and Kurds. Instead of excluding Kurds across the border as ‘terrorists,’ you should build a strategic partnership with a people you have lived alongside for a thousand years.”
Rojava should be a field of strategic alliance
Çiftyürek described the recent visit to Damascus by Turkey’s foreign minister, intelligence chief, and chief of general staff as a policy of “threat” directed at Rojava. Çiftyürek stated viewing Kurds as a threat traps Turkey in deadlock and said: “Turkey must now abandon security- and threat-centered policies toward Kurds. A solution is not possible through this mindset; a solution is possible only by remembering our brotherhood and shared history. What is needed is an understanding based on friendship and growing together. Kurds and Turks have lived together on these lands for a thousand years. Could there be a better strategic partnership than this? This is where the solution begins. This is our understanding of state wisdom.”