ISTANBUL - Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party Group Deputy Chairperson Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit said, "Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş must do his part to ensure that the commission meets with Mr. Öcalan.”

 

Kiğı-Karakoçan-Adaklı-Yayladere-Yedisu Districts Social Assistance, Development and Culture Association (KAYY-DER) organised a public meeting in a wedding hall in Ümraniye. Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party Group Deputy Chairperson Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit, DEM Party Çewlîg (Bingöl) MP Ömer Faruk Hülakü and many representatives of civil society organisations and citizens attended the meeting. At the meeting, where the participants expressed their demands for Kurdish to be the official and educational language, Hülakü spoke about the problems in Çewlîg and the methods of struggle against them. 

 

Heno Ronak, Co-President of the Kurdish Research Association, said: "The Kurdish language must be recognised and become the language of education, Kurdish education must be provided from kindergarten to universities, and the names of cities and villages whose names have been changed must be recognised in Kurdish. We demand that Kurdish be spoken from kindergartens to universities and that the legal obstacles to this be removed." 

 

Then Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit said: “The developments that followed Mr. Öcalan's calls have also shown that he has broken the mold and paved a completely new path. It is our duty to expand this path. Given the developments in the Middle East, resolving the Kurdish question is the only way for Turkey to remain standing. There is a perception that the PKK is the cause of the Kurdish question. We are talking about a century-old issue. The Kurdish question exists because the Kurds, a founding element of this state, have been denied. Therefore, the problem cannot be solved simply by the PKK disbanding and laying down its arms. The Kurdish question will be resolved if Turkey becomes democratic. If the problems of the Kurds, Alevis, and women are resolved, the Kurdish question will be resolved."

 

She stressed: “Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş must do his part to ensure that the commission meets with Mr. Öcalan.”

 

She continued, “Transitional laws also need to be enacted. Legal regulations need to be put in place for those who have been imprisoned and forced to leave the country due to the conflict. Changes need to be made to the laws on the enforcement of sentences. Laws such as the Anti-Terrorism Law (TMK) and the Criminal Procedure Code (CMK) need to be amended.”

 

Remarking that the process developed thanks to the Kurdish people's struggle, Koçyiğit described the operations targeting the CHP as “sabotage of the peace process.”

 

Drawing attention to the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers' latest decision on the “right to hope,” Koçyiğit added, “Today, it is our duty to fight everywhere for the right to hope, and for Mr. Öcalan's physical freedom.”