The İmralı Delegation of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party announced the historic statement of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan to the public yesterday. Abdullah Öcalan's call for "Peace and Democratic Society" had great repercussions. Sırrı Süreyya Önder, a member of the DEM Party Delegation, shared that after reading the text, Abdullah Öcalan told the delegation: "Undoubtedly, the laying down of arms and the dissolution of the PKK in practice require the recognition of democratic politics and a legal framework."

 

Journalist-writer Oral Çalışlar, who followed the statement, evaluated Abdullah Öcalan's call. Çalışlar stated that the society had been asking for peace for many years and that Öcalan's call was the first step towards the realisation of this demand today. Çalışlar reminded that similar discussions were held in 2013, but they were not realised. Çalışlar said that the unrealisation caused great costs and said, "If this process had been concluded positively that day, thousands of our young people would probably be alive today. Therefore, the call to lay down arms, which means the crowning of this peace process, will pave the way for Turkey. It will give the opportunity to bring Turkey to the level of advanced countries." 

 

Stating that Turkey can set sail for new horizons if the call is evaluated correctly and steps are taken to deepen democracy, Çalışlar emphasised that there are all kinds of possibilities for this situation. Çalışlar said, "The whole point is for people to embrace this with their own will. Now trustees are being appointed, the people are not being governed by the people they elected, their will is being ignored. All these are very important problems of democracy in Turkey. We can show this by discussing, talking and even punishing the parties that do this. Let's admit that there is a lot of pressure, but there is also a very serious organized people and society against these pressures."

 

‘THERE CAN BE NO PEACE WITHOUT COMPROMISE’ 

 

"Whether there is a PKK or not, whether there is a Kurdish issue or not, there is a big problem of democracy in the country," stressed Çalışlar and added that there is a problem of freedom of expression and democracy. Çalışlar stated that Abdullah Öcalan's call is not only important for Kurds. "There have been many difficulties so far, and there may be difficulties in the future as well. I have visited most of the conflict and settlement centres around the world. Colombia, South Africa and Ireland are no different. At the beginning, some demands are not met, sometimes you even make compromises, because there is no peace without compromises. I mean, some may get angry because of compromises, but at the end of the day, the way of reason is one," Çalışlar said.  

 

Çalışlar emphasised that what is more important than what the state is doing is the responsibility of those who struggle for democracy and how they will act in the following process and said, "At the moment, neither Turks are as democratic as they should be nor Kurds are as democratic as they should be. Will we really take democracy to heart? There is a 50-year process full of suffering. Villages were destroyed, cities were demolished and our people perished. Our most valuable intellectuals disappeared through unsolved murders. This new period will not be easy either, especially with the trustees appointed to the region and the recent operations worry people. But a new era has begun and if we have decided on peace, there will be nothing left for them to do."  

 

Stating that the laying down of arms means that the forces of democracy will raise their voices more, Çalışlar continued as follows: "In other words, peace or democratisation processes do not mean ‘I gave you this much, you give me this much and that's it’. For example, even if the PKK disarms, there is the issue of trustees. There are many more issues ahead of us, but most importantly there are our minds that need to change. Because it is a fact that none of our minds are very developed in terms of democratisation. Therefore, let's call the coming period as the period of changing ourselves and Turkey and let's fight like this. In this sense, let's hold on to the rope of democracy more tightly." 

 

MA / Esra Solin Dal