While the Peace and Democratic Society Process continues, the failure to take concrete steps from the side of the state and the government is causing a deadlock. Silence continues in response to frequent calls for steps to be taken so the process can advance. Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA Party) Secretary General and Deputy Chair Yusuf Türkmen shared his assessments of the process.

 

'CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES MUST BE PUT IN PLACE IMMEDIATELY'

 

Drawing attention to the fact that the Kurdish issue is one of the biggest problems of this country, Türkmen said: "This problem needs to be solved. I see this as a fundamental rights problem. I believe that all rights arising from a person's humanity must be recognized immediately, without any ifs or buts. Once the obstacles before these rights are removed, a great sense of relief will be achieved. A constitutional guarantee can be provided for this, but there is already a provision in Article 10 of the constitution stating that all citizens are equal. Whatever legal and constitutional guarantees are needed to remove the obstacles before fundamental rights, they must be put in place immediately."

 

Stating that one's mother tongue is the most fundamental right, Türkmen said: "All obstacles before the mother tongue must be removed, and education in the mother tongue must be possible. If you resolve this, you will eliminate the root cause of the problems at hand. As long as this is not done, these problems will continue to fester."

 

TRUSTEE PRACTICES

 

Stating that trustee practices are unacceptable, Türkmen said: "Trustee practices are no longer limited to this region alone. After mayors are removed from office, what should normally happen is that new mayors should be elected through the municipal assembly. But what is being done instead is that unelected people are appointed as trustees. At the root of all these problems is the progressive weakening of democracy in Turkey."

 

THE INFLUENCE OF ABDULLAH ÖCALAN

 

Underlining that "no negotiation is needed" for constitutional arrangements to be made and that the state must make all the necessary arrangements, Türkmen said: "Abdullah Öcalan is today the founder of the organization that is in the process of laying down arms, and therefore has an influence over the organization. Öcalan's influence was significant in the realization of this solution, particularly in the phase related to the disarmament process. For the subsequent phases to be realized, for the legal and constitutional arrangements to take place, no negotiation is needed — the state must make all the arrangements. We said this when the process began; we said 'even if the probability of a solution is 5 percent, we support this probability,' and we did support it."

 

THE PRESIDENT MUST TAKE INITIATIVE

 

Emphasizing that the President must immediately take stronger initiative in line with the will for a solution, Türkmen continued: "The number one interlocutor of this process is the President. Because in the presidential government system, everything that comes from the President's mouth happens. In that case, the President needs to take the initiative as soon as possible — to genuinely want to resolve this problem, to take the steps toward its resolution, and to make the necessary legal and constitutional arrangements to remove the obstacles to this. The President cannot afford the luxury of taking a position based on the flow of the process."

 

MA / Lutfi Pala