DEM Party Deputy Group Chair Sezai Temelli caled on the Turkish parliament to establish a commission for the peace process. The politician demanded concrete steps to resolve the Kurdish question.
Sezai Temelli, Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Group of the People's Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), held a press conference in Parliament on the current developments in Turkey and the Middle East.
Commenting on the mutual attacks between Israel and Iran, Sezai Temelli said, The war must be stopped immediately. This system that divides and pits societies against each other based on ethnic and religious identities must come to an end. Both the Israeli state and Iran, along with all authoritarian regimes in the region, have continued to turn the Middle East into a veritable hell for decades. The solution lies in a democratic society; the solution lies in comprehensive peace.
Sezai Temelli also spoke about Abdullah Öcalan’s February 27 “Call for Peace and Democratic Society”, calling it “a manifesto”. He stated: “We have long emphasized that the Kurdish peace to be achieved in Turkey and the social peace to be established in Turkey will have an impact on the region. We have said that if the Kurdish issue is resolved democratically and a lasting peace is built, the liberation of the peoples of the region will also be achieved, including that of the Palestinian people and all others. This will not be done by regimes like Iran and Israel, not by authoritarian expansionist regimes. Turkey's foreign policy has long insisted on this mistake, and it is now clear that the risks to Turkey have grown. Our only strength against these risks is peace, the search for a democratic Turkey and a democratic society. Once again, we call upon the people of Turkey and Turkey itself: join this call for a democratic society, join this struggle for a lasting peace. Through this, the solutions we will create in Syria, Iraq, and throughout the region will save the future of the peoples of the Middle East.
On February 27, Mr. Öcalan issued a call, and on May 12, the PKK announced that it would disband and lay down its arms. But nothing has happened since. It is now time to take the initiative and take the necessary steps. Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş has said that he will take the initiative on this issue. Action must be taken immediately, and Parliament must establish a commission to resolve this issue. Nearly all the parties in Parliament are in favor of the commission's work. What needs to be done is to come together and establish a commission that will address this issue. This must be our priority. What we need to do is take action on this issue. The steps we will take in this regard will not only build peace in Turkey. They will change the agenda that we are currently evading by condemning Israel, and they will stop Israel. We are talking about something very challenging. The establishment of a democratic society perspective in the Middle East, which will be brought to life by the Kurds and Turks, is critical to resolving the entire issue. The Parliament is now at the stage of taking a step. Once again, I call on Mr. Numan Kurtulmuş to initiate these efforts without delay, invite us, and establish a commission through consultation and dialogue that will be acceptable to all. This must be our top priority.
Temelli also sharply criticized the situation in Turkish prisons. He said that the prisons in Bolu and Karabük in particular were “places of unimaginable torture methods and rights violations”. He remarked that, “The prison administrations operate beyond the law and beyond control. Neither ministers nor the president have any influence over them. This is an unacceptable situation.
In terms of economic policy, Temelli accused the government of deliberately burdening poor sections of the population: “The price increases are hitting the working population with full force.” He was particularly harsh on the statistics agency TÜIK, which he accused of committing a crime by systematically falsifying inflation figures.[1]