'Kandil, Imrali and the government should carry out the process'

2025-04-14 15:04:11


	 

	   

	 

	ANKARA - DEM Party Group Deputy Chairperson Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit said that a meeting with the Ministry of Justice will be held this week, adding that parliament should assume responsibility for realistic steps. Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit said, "This is a process and those who should carry out this process are Kandil, İmralı and the government itself. They need to talk about this process, put the process in order and solve things."

	 

	Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Group Deputy Chair Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit made statements on the agenda at a press conference organised in the Parliament. Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit stated that the DEM Party İmralı Delegation will meet with the Ministry of Justice this week and said that this step is important but not sufficient. Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit emphasised that the working conditions of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan should be created and that the Parliament should immediately play a role in the process.

	 

	Presidential meeting: A new threshold for the call

	 

	Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit continued her statements as follows "Last week there was a meeting between Mr President and our Imrali delegation. This meeting was an important threshold that carried the Peace and Democratic Society Call, in which Mr Öcalan was trying to develop a historical initiative, and which he made for the Kurdish question to be free from violence and conflict, and for the historical Kurdish-Turkish alliance to develop, to a new stage. In this meeting, the failing and blocked aspects of the process carried out so far were discussed. The dynamic step of the process, the lifting of the isolation in Imrali and the need to provide the necessary conditions for Mr Öcalan's targeted work to be carried out were once again confirmed.

	 

	What will parliament do for a solution? Leaves are not moving

	 

	The more we say that isolation must end, the more some circles insist on not understanding this. We see that there are approaches that distort the issue in real terms. Now the most important actor who will take the steps that will make the peace and solution we all dream of possible is Mr Öcalan. If we want the guns to fall silent and the violence to end, then why is the most important actor who can do this still being kept in isolation? If we have decided together to lift this historical problem and the biggest burden on the back of the country; if we are at a historical threshold that everyone attributes great meaning to, why is there still talk of jurisprudence and procedure? We find it difficult to understand this. We have discussed this issue dozens of times under the roof of the Parliament. So, what will this parliament do for the democratic solution of the Kurdish question? Since 1 October, there have been many discussions, calls and meetings. But we have not seen any steps taken in the parliament; the leaf is not moving. No initiative has been developed. We find it difficult to understand this situation.

	 

	Parliament needs to take the initiative and intervene in the process

	 

	The DEM Party and the people have made it clear what they expect from the steps to be taken for the construction of a democratic society and peace. There is no ambiguity on this issue. On the other hand, the silence of the Parliament is quite worrying. It is high time for the Parliament to take the initiative and put its hand under the stone. This week, our İmralı delegation will have a meeting with Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç. During the meeting, ideas will be exchanged on the legal aspects of this process, penal execution law and other topics. In order for the process to proceed in a more detailed and healthy manner, the Parliament needs to play a role and establish a realistic legal basis. We are currently far from this legal basis. The process is being carried forward without this basis. This call is a call to 85 million people, the peoples of Turkey. The parliament, where the will of 85 million citizens is manifested, must quickly intervene in the process.

	 

	He must address society with his own voice

	 

	Mr Öcalan has made a call to the society and is it not the right thing for him to express this call to the society himself? Instead of expressing it through intermediaries, it is the most correct method for him to contact the society with his own voice, his own words, and to express his call for peace and a democratic society himself. In this sense, the government has a great responsibility. The government needs to take confidence-building steps on the issue of solution and peace. Because we know that there is a serious confusion and crisis of confidence in the public opinion. The practices of the government so far have made us question both its legitimacy and its intentions regarding the solution. It must quickly get out of this position and stay away from attitudes that polarise society and negatively affect the solution discussions.

	 

	 We demand the physical freedom of Mr Ocalan

	 

	Finally, the right to hope, which is an international concept and which we have included in our bill, must be brought to the Parliament with a legal regulation. Considering the fact that aggravated life imprisonment sentences exceeding 25 years cannot be kept in prison for life, it is essential that legal arrangements that can pave the way for the conditions of freedom should be made rapidly.In this sense, we demand the physical freedom of Mr Öcalan. There is no debate on this issue. However, the first thing that needs to be done today is to improve the working conditions that will pave the way for the process of going there, to create a climate in which he can meet with everyone and to eliminate the isolation.

	 

	This is an agreement between Mr Öcalan and the state. We cannot think that this text emerged independently of the state. The PKK has stated that it has taken its share from this call. Mr Öcalan has stated that he is behind the process he has developed and that he has no hesitation. The next process is left to the negotiations between the state and the PKK. It is the responsibility of the state to create these conditions. We understand from their statements to the press and the public that they say: ‘We want to lay down arms, we want to convene a congress, but we do not have these conditions. One of these conditions is the freedom of Mr Öcalan. In this sense, the state needs to work overtime. This is a process. Those who should carry out this process are Qandil, İmralı and the government itself. They need to talk about this process, put the process in order and solve things. After the meeting with the Minister of Justice, an application will be made to go to Imrali."