PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan told a HDP delegation that visited him on 15 August, the 30th anniversary of the PKK’s launching of the armed struggle: “this 30-year war is at a stage to end through democratic negotiations”.
HDP Group chairs Pervin Buldan and Idris Baluken and HDP Istanbul MP Sirri Süreyya Önder have issued a written statement regarding their visit to Mr Öcalan.
Sirri Süreyya Önder explained the details of their visit to Mr Öcalan to ANF.
Abdullah Öcalan said: “An election may be won with covert war methods, but peace cannot be achieved”, demanding that agreement be reached regarding the main principles of the process of resolution by the end of September. Öcalan said the HDP was “Turkey’s most effective opposition”, and criticised the failure to take the National Conference seriously.
‘Agreement must be reached and papers signed by the end of September’
Önder said the meeting had lasted for close to 4 hours, one of the longest meetings they had had. He said Öcalan’s message regarding the process of resolution was as follows:
“Mr Öcalan defines the process up to now as the ‘dialogue phase’, while preferring to use the term ‘negotiation phase’ for the period since the law came out. He emphasised that there is a 90-year reality of a covert, psychological war in Turkey, which conditions the reflexes of all state institutions. He said: ‘an election may be won by these means, but peace cannot be achieved’. He said this needs to change urgently. He said that the basic principles need to be jointly established by the end of September, put in writing and agreed. He said it was important that the working conditions of the Monitoring body, the negotiation teams and himself be ascertained in order for a series of meetings to take place.”
‘Meeting with state delegation was positive’
Önder said Öcalan had held a meeting with the state delegation on Thursday, adding that he had said he believed the points he had just mentioned would be addressed.
‘Attacks cannot be stopped solely by military means’
Önder said that Öcalan had dwelt on the situation in the Middle East, saying attacks could not be halted solely by military means, and that democratic initiatives must be taken. He said Mr Öcalan had contrasted the situation in Rojava, where the people had repulsed ISIS attacks, with that in Sinjar, adding that people must be included in the struggle.
‘HDP has become most effective opposition in Turkey’
Öcalan evaluated the election results, saying that organisation must be improved in provinces where a low vote was obtained by the HDP.
He said the HDP would develop into a broad based democratic government. He added: “Our determined 30-year struggle which has evolved into a process of negotiation has played a key role in the achievement of this result. I thereby call on everyone to understand the process more profoundly and make a contribution for a democratic country. The government should also understand the fact that the people of Turkey have made clear their wish for a real national integrity and a democratic state. It is now a historical necessity for them to understand this correctly and mobilise in order for the country to be transformed into a democratic common homeland that is far from all hegemonic and interventionist approaches. I want like to thank all those who contributed to this election campaign.”
‘If the conference had been taken seriously they could not have carried out a massacre’
Öcalan pointed to the importance of a National Conference, saying if a national peace force had been established the gangs would not have been able to act in such a carefree way, and perpetrated massacres.
Önder said Öcalan had informed them of his diplomatic efforts regarding the region, saying these efforts would be stepped up by people he had appointed in the coming days.
In spite of Öcalan’s peaceful approach, new-elected President Tayyip Erdogan, in a statement to the AKP representatives, pursued his attacks against the HDP and its chairman and presidential candidate Abdullah Demirtas.
Erdogan accused the HDP of having obtained votes in Kurdish areas by PKK’s threat of weapons and said that his power will not hesitate to mobilize the repressive forces of the Interior Ministry and the Turkish Army against them. (ANF-Cumhuriyet, August 18, 2014)
