In remarks made public on 30 March, Abdullah Öcalan shared his views on many issues that have drawn public attention. The statements, announced by the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Imralı Delegation, included Öcalan’s assessments on a wide range of topics.
Öcalan once again emphasized that the period of armed struggle has ended and outlined his views on how democratic integration should be shaped and how the process should move forward.
Hakan Öztürk, Chair of the Labor Movement Party (EHP), spoke to ANF and evaluated the statements.
Hakan Öztürk said that Abdullah Öcalan’s statement, “Democratic integration refers to the participation of Mesopotamian culture as a democratic entity,” is significant and noted that he has been expressing this idea for years. Öztürk said: “Öcalan once again expresses the equal and fraternal partnership of peoples that he has long tried to explain. He draws attention to the fact that this partnership, togetherness and integration, must be realized in a democratic way.
Like other peoples, the Kurdish people must also have their existence recognized and be in a position to freely exercise their collective rights. When this is achieved, the unity that has long been desired will emerge as a natural result. If we define the foundations of relations between peoples as one of equal citizenship, the outcome will be beneficial for everyone.”
Öztürk stated that it is necessary to struggle for the people of Turkey to be ready for this process of integration and for critical steps to be taken at this stage. He continued: “One never starts entirely from the beginning. There are always experiences that have already been lived, and these bring certain awareness to societies. We have gone through processes of attempting to establish peace several times before. Now, in order to prevent another breakdown, we can proceed by paying closer attention to certain aspects.
At the stage we have reached, we must engage in a struggle to ensure that critical and concrete steps are taken that will leave no room for turning back. Yes, there have been attacks and fascist propaganda, but whenever we step off a train heading in the wrong direction, we will be doing the right thing. This is how we should see the situation. The action that will ensure equality and fraternity among peoples is to step off the wrong train and walk toward the right direction.”
Hakan Öztürk also referred to the statement in the text announced by the Imralı Delegation, which read: “In the historical periods of societies and countries, expressing mistakes, excesses and anti-democratic practices should not be regarded as something unusual, as if touching something sacred. It must be said that defending assimilationist methods with a positivist belief is like forcing a narrow shirt onto the country.” Öztürk said: “This view is appropriate. In this part of the statement, the entire negative process experienced in the country is subjected to reason and logic. Yes, the problems have been expressed, but expressing these problems does not mean rejecting fundamental values. There have been developments in the country’s history that all peoples would view positively, and these have been upheld.
At the same time, there is nothing acceptable about policies that deny different identities and are based on assimilation. It has become clear in every respect that such policies will not yield results, both in our country and around the world.”
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