AMED - At the conference on the Kurdish issue, IHD Co-Chair Küçükbalaban emphasized that the way should be paved for negotiations with PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan for the solution of the Kurdish issue, while DEM Party member Cengiz Candar said that a relief process could occur if the main idea of Ocalan's 2013 letter is returned.

 

A "Solution of the Kurdish issue and peace conference" was organized by the Human Rights Association (IHD) in a hotel in Amed. IHD Co-Chairs Eren Keskin and Hüseyin Küçükbalaban, journalists, writers, intellectuals, politicians, representatives of non-governmental organizations and many people attended the conference. The opening speech of the conference was made by IHD Co-Chair Hüseyin Küçükbalaban.

 

Stating that IHD has insisted on peace since the day it was founded, Küçükbalaban said: "The history of IHD intersects with the history of the struggle for peace in this country." 

Stating that defending peace is a human right, Küçükbalaban said: “Building peace is based on human rights and freedoms. We know that all kinds of inequality between people, the lack of recognition of rights and freedoms; It is the main cause of wars and conflicts."

 

THIRD WORLD WAR

 

Underlining that the ongoing regional and local wars and conflicts in the world deeply affect all the people of the world, Küçükbalaban said: “A peaceful solution has still not been found in the Syrian civil war and Rojava, which has been going on for years. Everything about rights and freedoms is under heavy attack. Fascism is on the rise internationally. Regional conflicts seem like rehearsals for a new world war. While Ukraine continues like the preliminary battle of the third world war, the horror that Israel continues in Gaza without any borders kills not only children and women, but also the reflex to say 'enough' in the minds and hearts of everyone who watches.”

 

'REGIONS ARE IN CONFLICT'

 

Pointing out that all countries in the region, from the Caucasus to the Balkans, are in conflict both within themselves and with their neighbors, Küçükbalaban said: “And here, in these beautiful lands, the war that took the past and future of the people hostage is in its fortieth year. The steps that have not been taken for forty years have made things even more complicated and the war deeper. The Kurdish issue, which is essentially a Turkish and Turkey issue, is now a regional issue and the lack of a solution makes things even more complicated."

 

'THE MAIN ISSUE IS THE KURDISH ISSUE'

 

Stating that Turkey has a pluralistic texture in terms of its ethnic, linguistic, religious and cultural characteristics, Küçükbalaban said: "Pluralism finds expression in the slogan 'everyone is different, everyone is equal', which IHD has emphasized and reflected many times. Pluralism is also the basis of democracy. There is an unbreakable bond between democracy and human rights. Therefore, as IHD, we once again underline that the main issue of the country is the issue of human rights and democracy, and the most important link of this basic issue is the Kurdish issue. We need a new peace process and conflict resolution more than ever to solve the issue of human rights and democracy."

 

'CONFLICTS CONTINUE'

 

 Reminding that Turkey is a country that does not solve its fundamental issues, such as the Kurdish issue, based on dialogue and negotiation, Küçükbalaban said: “For this very reason, armed conflicts continue inside and outside the country and cause us pain and more losses in our lives every day. It makes the geography more unmanned, forestless and natureless,"

 

'THE ADDRESSOR IS ABDULLAH OCALAN'

 

Stating that they are faced with a burden that has become heavier due to the unresolved Kurdish issue and the renewed armed conflicts, Küçükbalaban continued his speech as follows: "In the atmosphere of conflict and war, as well as in the general pressure environment, it is inevitable for violence to come to the fore and the language of hate to spill its poison. The upward trend in racist attacks motivated by hatred continues.

 

This environment; It puts aside the implementation of minimum humane and moral rules, and the delivery of human corpses to their families in bags is not only unlawful, it hurts consciences and harms social peace. The policy of deadlock and authoritarianism in the Kurdish issue is getting stronger; The search for truth and justice of Saturday Mothers/People of the disappeared human rights defenders continues to be hindered by bans. The instrumentalization of the judiciary fundamentally shakes the sense of trust in justice. Insistence on the Kurdish issue also causes irreparable heavy losses caused by the war economy. War returns to the people as more poverty and more taxes.

It is possible to get rid of all these negativities through peace.

 

Giving up the denial of the Kurdish issue and accepting it is essential to ensure social peace. For a permanent conflict, the way for Abdullah Ocalan, an important actor in the solution of the Kurdish issue, to meet with his family and lawyers must be cleared as soon as possible. A path to compromise must be opened through negotiation, and political and social segments must be involved in these processes.

 

WE MUST FOCUS ON PEACE

 

If Turkey's political parties and social opposition focus on peace, the way for a new peace process will be paved. All the people of this country, the workers, the poor, women, youth, children, all of us need peace. As IHD, we are organizing this two-day conference to meet this need.

 

We, as the Human Rights Association, came here by learning. We learned and we came by multiplying and sharing what we learned. We came saying peace for the people, we came saying peace for our region, we came saying peace for the world. Today is also the 46th anniversary of the Istanbul University massacre and the 36th anniversary of the Halabja Massacre. We remember them all with respect and insistently say peace. Peace for the people, may the fire of Blacksmith Kawa be eternal, may life always prevail in March. While talking about peace and conflict solutions, it would not be right not to mention Norwegian Professor Johan Galtung, who passed away on February 17, 2024. Because he is a thinker who has been effective in ending conflicts in more than 30 countries with his thesis of 'overcoming and transforming conflicts' and contributed to peace. He has put forward solution proposals for the Kurdish issue since 2006, and we still think that these solutions are valid for the Kurdish issue, and we remember him with respect.

 

This conference; It is an indication that IHD will continue its contribution and struggle to defend the right to peace today. This meeting should be seen as a reaffirmation of our insistence on peace. As human rights defenders, we know that the path to peace in Turkey will be through the struggle for the right to peace. With this belief, I respectfully greet everyone who attended our conference and hope that we will have two days where we will contribute to peace.”

 

'IMPACT OF EXTERNAL ACTORS IN THE MIDDLE EAST'

 

Then the conference continued with the second session. While the moderator of the session "Peace in the Middle East and the democratic solution of the Kurdish issue" was Selahattin Esmer, the speakers were Associate Professor Arzu Yılmaz and People's Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Amed Deputy Cengiz Candar.

 

Yılmaz, who spoke first in the session, touched upon nation states and their understanding of sovereign states. Stating that the conflicts in the Middle East between 1945 and 2008 occurred with the involvement of at least two external actors, Yılmaz stated that after 2008, an average of at least 6 external actors took sides in the Middle East. Yılmaz said: "An average of 200 million people in the Middle East live under the rule of non-state actors."

 

Emphasizing that the peace talks that took place after 2009-2013 and the peace talks that will take place after 2019-2023 have a different character for the Kurds, Yılmaz interpreted the reason for this as "coinciding with a period when the relations between the Kurds are far from reconciliation and the potential for conflict is very high. All Kurd actors must be inclusive in order to establish a peace mechanism.”

 

'REGIME CHANGE IS CONNECTED WITH THE KURDISH İSSUE'

 

DEM Party Amed Deputy Cengiz Candar stated that there were very important changes in the Kurdish issue after the solution process. Stating that the most important change in Turkey is the regime change in the country, Candar said: "This regime change has changed directly in connection with the Kurdish issue."

 

Reminding that HDP won with 80 deputies on June 7, 2015, AKP could not obtain the majority and the war policies started on July 24, 2015, Candar said: "On November 1, the results that June 7, 2015 did not give, were given to those in power. After that, there were developments that we know about. There was a very fundamental development on the way to that. An alliance was established between AKP and MHP. MHP's precondition for this alliance was 'the end of the solution process'. The entire opposition, especially the Kurdish opposition, was repressed. With the 2018 election, Turkey constitutionally switched to the President Tribe system, which resembles this freak system. We have been in this system since that day. Approximately 40 days after July 15, the cross-border operation took place in Syria. From now on, Turkey settled outside the border as a military power. It should be seen that the regime change in Turkey has a direct connection with the currently prevailing Kurdish issue and its unresolved natüre."

 

'THE MAIN IDEA OF OCALAN'S LETTER MUST BE RETURNED'

 

Saying that empty dreams should not be established at this point, Candar also pointed out that it was said that "Isolation must be abolished and negotiations with Mr. Abdullah Ocalan should begin. But a democratic climate has still not been created.” Evaluating PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan's letter read at Amed Newroz in 2013 as "magnificent", Candar pointed out that a period of relief could occur if his main idea was returned to.

 

The session ended with a question and answer session.