The Democratic Regions Party (DBP), Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), Labor Movement Party (EHP), Labour Party (EMEP), Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), Platform for Socialist Solidarity (SODAP), Socialist Refoundation Party (SYKP), Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP), Social Freedom Party (TÖP) and the Green Left Party released a joint statement calling for urgent and concrete steps in the Peace and Democratic Society Process in Turkey.
A new phase has been reached
The statement said: “The process that has been ongoing in Turkey for more than a year has now reached a new phase. What needs to be done in this new phase is to take the steps that have been on the agenda from the very beginning in order for the process to progress in a healthy manner.”
It continued: “Implementing these steps is, above all, the responsibility of the political power. In an environment where weapons have fallen silent and grounds for dialogue are being sought, the government refrains from taking steps that would realize peace and democracy and instead confines the process solely to a security issue. While anti-democratic practices continue, a monist, exclusionary, and confrontational language persists instead of the language of dialogue and resolution.
The process is being sustained merely through declarations of goodwill. However, the point that could be reached through goodwill declarations alone has already been surpassed. The work of the Parliamentary Commission, which was seen as one phase of the process, has also been completed. There is now nothing left to wait for in order to implement the concrete steps required for peace and democracy.”
“Based on these conditions,” the following calls were made:
● Trustee practices must be ended without delay, even without the need for new legal arrangements, and mayors who were elected by the will of the people but removed from office must be reinstated.
● Decisions of the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights, which are binding under the Constitution, must be implemented; the rulings concerning Selahattin Demirtaş, Figen Yüksekdağ, Can Atalay, Osman Kavala, and Tayfun Kahraman must be carried out immediately. The conditions of detainees and prisoners must be urgently improved within the existing legal framework, without waiting for new legislation.
● Judicial operations against opposition parties must end, and threats of party closures or trustee appointments must be removed from the agenda.
● Parliamentary work must be accelerated in order to enact the legal regulations required for peace and democratization. Obstacles to democratization must be removed without any pretext, including through transitional justice arrangements and democratic integration laws.”
The statement concluded: “The process cannot be left solely to the delaying and hesitant attitude of the political power. In order for these concrete steps to be taken, those who demand peace must come together and raise their voices loudly.
We are in a period where attacks on our region, NATO interventions, wars, and imperialist aggression are escalating globally. These developments once again demonstrate the importance of achieving peace. There is now a greater need than ever for all segments of the democratic opposition to take initiative in order to socialize peace.
We call on all segments of society to unite in a common struggle that will make peace lasting.”
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