One year has passed since Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan made his February 27 “Call for Peace and a Democratic Society.” During this period, a delegation formed by the Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party held several meetings in İmralı. A parliamentary commission was established, and a delegation from that commission also met with Öcalan. The report prepared following these meetings was adopted by majority vote in the commission.

 

The DEM Party, however, attached a dissenting opinion to the report, objecting to the absence of the term “Kurdish issue” and to defining the process under the framework of a “Terror-Free Türkiye” and a “solution to the terror problem.”

 

Piroğlu, a member of the DEM Party’s Central Executive Board and spokesperson for the Socialist Democracy Movement (SDH), said the process has entered a new phase with the report. He argued that both what is written and what is omitted in the report should be debated together.

 

Piroğlu stated that the report essentially reflects the classical state perspective that denies the Kurdish issue and confines it to the concept of “terror.” While it emphasizes democratization, he said, it offers no concrete steps. Piroğlu said: “There has been no progress in one year. No seriously ill prisoners have been released, no steps have been taken regarding political prisoners, and no democratization reforms have been introduced. On the contrary, the state’s authoritarian tendencies have increased.”

 

‘WE MUST TAKE OWNERSHIP OF THE PROCESS’

 

Piroğlu stressed that the peace issue must become socialized and not be left solely to talks between the state and Öcalan. “When we leave the process to negotiations between two sides, we effectively leave the initiative to the state. If Abdullah Öcalan remains weak at the table, the possibilities for resolving the Kurdish issue weaken. And if the prospects for resolving the Kurdish issue weaken, so do the prospects for democracy in the country,” he said.

 

He argued that democratic forces and labor movements must actively engage in the process to create the conditions for a democratic resolution rather than allowing the issue to be reduced to a matter of “terror.”

 

‘THE KURDISH ISSUE IS A NATIONAL ISSUE’

 

Referring to the report’s emphasis on “fundamental human rights,” Piroğlu said the Kurdish issue cannot be reduced to a human rights framework and added: “The Kurdish issue is a national and political issue and must be resolved politically. The recognition of the Kurdish people’s national rights and political status goes beyond cultural or human rights discussions. The core issue is that the Kurdish question is a national question.”

 

He added that the isolation conditions imposed on Öcalan in İmralı are also political in nature and linked to how the state interprets the Kurdish issue and Öcalan’s role within the Kurdish movement.

 

‘WE MUST STOP THIS COURSE’

 

Piroğlu stated that resolving the Kurdish issue would also open the way for democratization of the state structure. “If the oppression of the Kurdish people stems from the foundational character of the state, then solving this issue would mean transforming that oppressive character. While this would not automatically establish democracy and labor emancipation, it would significantly reduce political pressure and strengthen democratic struggle,” he said.

 

He warned that the country is moving toward a dangerous process, claiming that civil society spaces are increasingly being organized and controlled by the ruling party, while journalists, politicians, and students face arrests.

 

“To stop this course, we must walk side by side. Where there is no peace, there can be no democracy; and where there is no democracy, the conditions for building peace do not exist,” Piroğlu concluded.

 

MA / Tolga Güney