DİYARBAKIR - Stating that there is hope for change in the 14 May elections, Green Left Party Diyarbakır MP candidate Cengiz Çandar said: “The government is falling apart. It will be ousted, there is no other choice.”
The Kurds, who are defined as a "problem" today with the annihilation and denial policies of the Republic, attach great importance to the May 14 elections in order to change the AKP government, which is the continuation of this policy. Journalist Cengiz Çandar, who is a candidate from the list of the Greens and Left Future Party (Green Left Party), preparing for the elections with the aim of entering the parliament with 100 MPs for the democratic solution of the Kurdish problem in the second century, for the construction of the Democratic Republic, describes his relationship with the Kurds, which started at the level of leaders, today as “I am a member of Kurdish people's movement”.
ÇANDAR'S RELATIONSHIP WITH KURDISH THAT GOES ON LONG YEARS
Expressing that his relationship with the Kurds goes back many years, Çandar said: “Jalal Talabani was one of the leaders of the Kurdish armed movement in Iraq. I brought him and developed his relationship with the President of the Republic of Turkey, Turgut Özal. Afterwards, relations were established with other Kurdish leaders in Iraq, and I took part in that. I also knew that all of this would have an impact on the Kurdish movement in Turkey and that it would open a new page; therefore, the establishment of the relationship between Talabani and Özal led to the destruction of one of the biggest taboos since the beginning of the Republic. The acceptance of a Kurdish leader at the presidential level once made it possible to meet with the Kurds, and secondly, it paved the way for the word of 'Kurd' and the concept of Kurdistan to become familiar over time. That's why, from my point of view, I have not been able to get out of trouble with the state to this day."
CONTACT WITH THE KURDISH PEOPLE AFTER THE LEADERS
Stating that his relationship with the Kurds, which started at the level of the leaders, has moved to a point where he will have direct contact with the Kurdish people, Çandar said: "I have had face-to-face relations not only with the Kurdish leaders in Iraq, but also with all the prominent figures of the Kurdish movement in Turkey, even with Öcalan himself. Although the role I played began with the South Kurds-President relationship, I belonged to the Northern Kurds. Because I am in Turkey and more than half of the total number of Kurds in the world are in this country, my people, our people, a part of us; therefore, when it comes to the Kurdish struggle, Kurdish rights, and the Kurdish cause, I refer to the Northern Kurds. I belonged to them. Now I am a candidate to be their representative from Amed, which will be considered their center, even the center of 4 parts, and we will probably be with their support."
'I AM A MEMBERS OF THE KURDISH PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT'
Defining the struggle in Kurdistan as a "people's movement", Çandar said: "There is a great overlap between the demands of the people and the demands of the leadership. I think there is a great overlap between the Kurdish leadership and the Kurdish people. I see it as a great popular movement and I am aware of it. I now feel myself as a member of the Kurdish people's movement. From this point of view, there is no difference between the political leadership of this movement and the people, there is a great overlap. It is a movement of people. They are also the leading cadres of this popular movement. I am now a member of this popular movement. The studies that we carried out in almost every part of Amed(Diyarbakır), in which I was a part, reinforced this observation. This is a people's movement and there is no other people's movement in Turkey. All political parties represent various segments of society and various ideological tendencies. But here, where we are in Amed, there is a people movement of the Kurdish people. There is a party that this people movement brought to the parliament. This party is one of the partners of a much broader people movement. Not all, part of it. I felt this insight even more strongly than in my one-on-one contacts with the public during the election campaign. I am extremely happy and honored to belong to these people."
THE GREEN LEFT PARTY IS THE KEY POINT IN TURKEY
Expressing that the Kurdish people's continued struggle against all oppression, suppression and arrests is due to the nature of "being a people's movement", Çandar said: "Now we are in such a situation that its 10 thousand members are imprisoned, its co-chairperson is under arrest, its MPs are under arrest, its iconic name is İmralı(Öcalan) also in isolation. It has been the key to Turkey in a wide range of developments, from constitutional amendments to the election of the president, to the making of a new law. What does all this mean, it means that it is a popular movement. Of course it takes great damage. If Selahattin Demirtaş is currently outside, not inside, if Selçuk Mızraklı continues as Diyarbakır Mayor, if Bekir Kaya continues as Van Mayor, from Ayla Akat to Gültan Kışanak, from Osman Baydemir on abroad to Fırat Anlı, everyone It would be a completely different situation if he were here, if those 10 thousand HDP members who are currently in prison were outside, even if the editors of the Mezopotamya Agency, members of the Democratic Regions Party, lawyers and other journalist friends, who were arrested a week ago, were outside. Despite this, there is a party in Turkey that is on its way to becoming a key player. These are examples that show that all deficiencies can be filled.”
ESTABLISHING OF DEMOCRACY IN TURKEY
Determining that the Kurds are in a key position in the election, Çandar continued his words as follows: “Erdogan's loss of the presidency and the election of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu will only be possible with the great support of the people. It is not only the Green Left Party that plays the key role, but the Kurdish people themselves. So far, data and indicators show that 2 alliances other than the Green Left Party, the People's Alliance, which represents the regime, and the Nation Alliance, will have approximately the same number of MPs. Even if the Nation Alliance gains more MPs, it will not be enough to make the necessary constitutional amendments to return from the presidential system, the one-man dictatorship system to the parliamentary system, and to pass very important laws; therefore, the number of seats the Green Left Party will have with its votes will automatically make it the key to rebuilding democracy in Turkey.”
'THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE OUSTED'
Referring to the threatening rhetoric of the government, days before the election, Çandar said: “At the moment, the government is collapsing. The government will be ousted. Do they cheat crate security? I'm 100 percent sure they will. But this will not be enough to prevent them from leaving. How will it be with ballot box control?"
'THERE IS NO OTHER CHOICE'
Reminding what happened in the Istanbul mayoral election regarding the election fraud debates, Çandar said that the difference of votes, which was 13 thousand, increased to over 800 thousand with the repeated elections. Çandar said: "This is possible if the ballot boxes are taken under control by all opposition groups, and that the Supreme Election Board (YSK) will not be able to "move" for possible fraud if the ballot box security is taken under control, and the bureaucracy, which sees that Erdoğan is going, will take a stand accordingly. I think it will be like that, the government will be ousted, there is no other choice."