KURDISTAN (TURKIYE)
FREE OCALAN!
“The struggle will ensure the freedom of Öcalan and the solution of the Kurdish question,” said DBP Co-Chair Keskin Bayındır, pointing to Abdullah Öcalan as the interlocutor for a solution and peace.
ANF
BATMAN
Sunday, 17 November 2024
Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Co-Chair Keskin Bayındır spoke at the ‘Democracy and Freedom’ organised by the Platform of Democratic Institutions in Batman province. Emphasising that the Kurdish people continue their resistance, Keskin Bayındır said, “We will surely succeed. This struggle, your resistance will surely reach its goal.”
'The Kurdish people are waging a historic struggle for their freedom'
Giving messages of resistance and struggle, Keskin Bayındır said, “Those who usurp the will of our people should take a good look at this square. This square is a place of success and freedom. This state should know well that no power can prevent the Kurdish people's struggle for freedom. No matter how much they advance on us, they cannot stop us. The Kurdish people in Europe sent a warm greeting, a revolutionary greeting yesterday. Let us send them a warm greeting today. The Kurdish people are waging a historic struggle for their freedom in 4 parts of Kurdistan and in the world. This struggle will ensure the freedom of Mr Öcalan and the solution of the Kurdish question.”
'The address is İmralı'
Emphasising that Öcalan is the interlocutor for peace and solution, Keskin Bayındır said that Öcalan’s voice should be heard if there is to be a process of talks. Pointing to the ongoing isolation of Öcalan in İmralı Island Prison, Bayındır said, “If this isolation continues, this process is a lie. Our people should believe in their struggle. If you want to create a solution in this country, the solution is Mr Öcalan, the address is İmralı. On the one hand, they impose aggravated isolation, appoint trustees to the will of the Kurdish people, carry out operations in 4 parts of Kurdistan, while on the other hand they say ‘we are brothers’... We are not brothers of traitors. If there is to be peace and a solution, the address is clear.”
'The Kurdish people did not and will not bow down to your oppression'
Referring to the usurpation of the municipalities of Batman, Mardin and Halfeti, Bayındır said, “They appointed trustees to these 3 cities to tell us that they don’t accept our model that foresees organisation. No matter what you do, the Kurdish people did not and will not bow down to your oppression. The AKP-MHP government is appointing trustees to the will of the Kurdish people. The AKP-MHP is the trustee of Turkey, the trustee of the Kurdish people and the Turkish people. We do not accept the trustees, and we will send them away. The Kurdish people are ready for a solution and a process. This will is seen in this square today. We will spread this will throughout Kurdistan, Turkey and the world. We want honourable peace and a solution.”
The DBP Co-Chair concluded: “Let the Kurdish people's leader be free, let this issue be resolved. Let Kurdistan be free, let the Kurdish people achieve their goals and objectives. We are starting historic resistance. This resistance will be written in history; how the Kurdish people determine their fate with their will, strength and power. The Kurdish people are now a great power in the Middle East and the world. No one should underestimate this power. This century will be the century of the Kurdish people, the century of Kurdistan.”
‘If you are serious, open the doors of İmralı and let Öcalan deliver a message of peace’
Speaking at the rally in Batman, DEM Party Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları appealed to the government, saying, “If you are serious, open the doors of İmralı and let Mr. Öcalan deliver a message of peace.”
ANF
BATMAN
Sunday, 17 November 2024
The Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları spoke at the ‘Democracy and Freedom Rally’ organised by the Platform of Democratic Institutions in Batman. She started her speech by remembering Edip Solmaz (who was assassinated on 12 November 1979 after 28 days as mayor). Hatimoğulları pointed out that those who murdered Edip Solmaz are now appointing trustees to municipalities and called those who appoint trustees ‘coup plotters’.
'We will continue to struggle shoulder to shoulder against fascism'
Hatimoğulları stated that the Kurdish people's right to elect and be elected was taken away from them, and that the current administration cannot be democracy. “The name of this administration can only be fascism. We will continue to struggle shoulder to shoulder against fascism. The trustee of Batman says that Turks and Kurds share the same fate and have the same hopes. This is a lie, the people of Batman are here. You cannot represent their hope and understanding of brotherhood. You are a trustee, you are a thief, you were forced into the municipality under the wing of police shields. Although trustees have been appointed to our municipalities after every election, the people have come to this day by doubling their votes and increasing the number of municipalities. And this was realised through the joint struggle of you; the Kurdish people and other peoples.
‘We are on the side of honourable peace’
Hatimoğulları mentioned the recent discussions on a possible process of talks with Öcalan and said: “All of Turkey is now talking about and discussing this question. There are various developments that started with a handshake and we do not know exactly what they want. As the DEM Party, Kurdish people and the peoples of Turkey, we are, of course, on the side of honourable peace. We have been fighting for peace for more than 40 years. We have fought for justice and democracy to come to this country, for brotherhood and equality between the peoples.”
‘We have expressed our readiness for an honourable peace’
Referring to the attacks against Kurds, Hatimoğulları stated: “They tried to crush the heads of Kurds every time. They tried to crush the heads of the revolutionaries in Turkey who were in solidarity with the Kurdish people. But they failed. You, our valuable people, show them in this square that they have failed. From here we address Ankara; we have expressed our readiness for an honourable peace, for a solution on democratic grounds at every opportunity, everywhere. We have said that if you are not playing games, if you are not mocking the people's hopes, if you are serious, if you are to act with the seriousness of a state, first of all open the doors of Imrali, let Mr. Öcalan come out and give his message to the whole Middle East. If the partner of the government is serious about the messages it is giving to the public, it should first put its ministries into action and open the doors of Imrali wide open. Let Mr Öcalan come out and deliver his messages of peace to the Kurdish people, the people of the Middle East.”
'This is not brotherhood'
The DEM Party Co-Chair continued: “Erdoğan is not speaking. He is the one in the seat of power. It is the AKP government and the president who are the executive authority. If they have solutions to this issue, they should speak and announce a programme. He himself has not spoken until today. Instead, his advisors and spokespersons speak. They say that the trusteeship is a ‘fight against terrorism’ but it is them who are doing the real ‘terror’. Gülistan Sönük was elected by the people of Batman with 65 percent of the vote, the highest in Turkey, but they appointed a trustee in her place and call this ‘fight against terrorism’, while they, on the other hand, say that ‘The Kurds are our brothers’. This is not brotherhood. They say ‘we are brothers with Kurds’, but they list red lines. This red line does not include Kurds, different peoples and beliefs. This red line includes the centuries-old understanding of denial and extermination, monism. They talk about brotherhood, but only on condition that the Kurds should not have a name and an identity, that they should not speak Kurdish and not demand education in the mother tongue. Is such brotherhood possible? The answer is not given by us, but by our valuable people in the fields. Let the palace hear it, let Ankara hear it. Let the partners of the government hear it.
Again, the same spokespersons say that the DEM Party is pushing a peace process away. This is a total lie. Every time we talked, no matter who spoke on behalf of our party, we said ‘We are ready for an honourable peace’. We said we were ready for a solution on democratic grounds together. The government must decide this. The state must decide if it is a hand of peace that is being outstretched. If so, we are ready to hold that hand. If not, we are ready to wage an honourable struggle against that hand together with our peoples as we have done until today. We would then wage the strongest struggle against them.
‘We are ready for both negotiation and struggle’
Those who say ‘Kurds are our brothers’ are working on two laws. More precisely, they are preparing a law with two agendas. One is about parliamentary elections and the other is about municipal elections. They want to ban others from the beginning. This cannot be the hand of peace. Together with our peoples, we once again appeal to the state mind and the government. We want an honorable peace. Kurdish people demand the right to education in their mother tongue. The Kurdish people want a negotiation and dialogue process to develop on democratic grounds. Are you, as the state mind and the government, ready for this? The people of Kurdistan, especially the people of Batman, and the people of Turkey are waiting for the answer. We have given our message at every opportunity; we are ready for both negotiation and struggle.
We are the ones who say ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadî’
Hatimoğulları continued: “This government persecutes women the most. They do not tolerate the presence of women in politics or in the public sphere. We have personally experienced the effects of Hezbollah on this issue during this election process in Batman. Still, the people of Batman embraced their party with great honour and elected our party's candidate. These anti-democratic practices, especially the appointment of trustees, are a stance against the representation of women everywhere. They did not accept our purple line of co-presidency and equal representation. They do not accept women playing an active role in politics. They say, ‘What are you doing in politics, go home!’. However, we women are the ones who say ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadî’ (Woman, Life, Freedom).”
A central rally for ‘Democracy and Freedom’ will be held in Batman province today. The rally is promoted by the Platform of Democratic Institutions.
ANF
BATMAN
Sunday, 17 November 2024
The Platform of Democratic Institutions is organising a rally for ‘Democracy and Freedom’ in Batman. A banner reading ‘We are expanding our freedom march for a democratic solution to the Kurdish question’ was hung in the rally area where masses have already started to gather. The people are carrying banners reading ‘This is a public warning; evacuate the municipalities’, ‘No passage to the trustee, the trustee is plunder’ and ‘The solution and the interlocutor are clear’.
People coming from neighbouring cities for the rally met at Diyarbakır Street and Hasankeyf Junction. While the team from Sirt entered the area with a banner reading ‘We will win by resisting against the usurpation of will, not trustees but democracy’, a large number of women, including the Peace Mothers, who gathered in the Free Women’s Movement (Tevgera Jinên Azad, TJA) cortège, gathered at Yılmaz Güney Park.
Prevented from passing through the checkpoint, the people coming from Hasankeyf got out of their vehicles and marched towards Batman, chanting the slogan ‘We will win by resisting’.
Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları and Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Co-Chairperson Çiğdem Kılıçgün Uçar also arrived at the rally site.
Those who set out from Mardin and Şırnak were also intercepted by Turkish troops in the district of Gercüş. The people started to march towards Batman, chanting the slogans ‘Bijî berxwedana Batmanê’ and ‘Berxwedan xweş doz e’.
Declaration of the ‘Democracy and Freedom Rally’ to be held in Batman on 17 November announced
Call for everyone in favour of peace, democracy and fraternity in Turkey to increase the common struggle and to participate in the ‘Democracy and Freedom Rally’ in Batman on 17 November to speak out against oppression.
ANF
BATMAN
Monday, 11 November 2024
The Platform of Democratic Institutions announced a declaration regarding the ‘Democracy and Freedom’ rally to be held in Batman on 17 November. DBP co-chairs Çiğdem Kılıçgün Uçar and Keskin Bayındır, DEM Party MPs and TJA (Free Women’s Movement) activists attended the press conference held at Petrol İş Union hall in Batman on Monday. The banner ‘We are expanding our freedom march for a democratic country’ was unfurled at the event.
The declaration, read by TJA activist Havva Can in Kurdish and by DEM Party Assembly Member Sema Koç in Turkish, said the following:
“The crises and chaos created by the system of capitalist modernity have spread all over the world, especially in the Middle East. The system's wheel of violence and exploitation has made life unbearable by reaching the level of social destruction, ecocide and femicide. The system, whose bankruptcy is certain with its institutions and rules, has become incapable of managing even its own internal crises, let alone finding solutions to the problems of humanity, which have reached gigantic dimensions. It has become clear that the structural crises of the system have spread to our region and the world as the 3rd World War. Every move of the forces of capitalist modernity, which respond to the peoples' struggle for freedom, democracy and rights with oppression, violence and massacres, to overcome the crisis only deepens the problems even more. The reflection of these wars on the new energy routes of the capitalist modernity system, which is fundamentally based on further profit and exploitation, on the peoples is nothing but oppression, violence, death, massacre, poverty, hunger and new waves of migration.
The Middle East is the centre of the war of profit and exploitation of the capitalist modernity system with which it is in structural contradiction due to its historical, cultural and social heritage. It is contrary to the nature of things that the system, which has turned our region into a bloodbath with the nation-state mentality for a hundred years, finds solutions to the problems it has caused. The separation of peoples who have lived together for thousands of years and have common cultural and social values with a nation-state mentality did not and will not yield any results other than deepening the problems. The wheel of war and exploitation of the system has once again shown that peoples should solve their own problems through dialogue and negotiation and peaceful means. In this context, the 'Democratic Nation' and 'Democratic Confederalism' concepts developed by Mr Abdullah Öcalan offer a great chance to solve the problems of humanity.
The Third World War, which started with the end of the bipolar world order and the Cold War, has reached a new stage. While the crisis created by the Russia-Ukraine war continues at the global level, the local conflict between Israel and Hamas with the events of 7 October has approached the level of a regional war. The war between Israel, Palestine and Lebanon will inevitably have repercussions on the countries of the region in particular and the world in general. The denialist policies of despotic nation-states that reject the historical, cultural, political and social reality of the peoples have made the region open to all kinds of foreign intervention. Despotic powers that try to maintain their power through oppression, violence and massacre have no legitimacy in the eyes of the peoples. Just as no power that did not ensure internal peace has survived throughout history, no structure that continues its policies of rejection and denial has a chance to survive today.
Turkey is one of the countries that has not shown the prudence to solve its fundamental problems with the policies of rejection and denial it has pursued in the Kurdish question and has not achieved internal peace. Policies that ignore the historical, cultural, social and political reality of our geography are the main cause of a periodic conflict for one hundred and fifty years and an uninterrupted conflict for fifty years. Mr Öcalan has repeatedly expressed his will for the conflict process to evolve into a negotiated solution, but these chances and opportunities have been squandered every time. The policies of solutionlessness based on the politics of denial, which have yielded no results, have not gone beyond confirming the regional nature of the Kurdish issue. At the current stage, it is the only way for peoples to solve their problems with their own hands against the opportunism of hegemonic powers and their satellite nation-states to fortify themselves through new wars.
In this context, the discussions on the Kurdish issue, for whatever reason, are positive and important. Mr Öcalan's remark ‘Isolation continues. I have the theoretical and practical power to move this process from the grounds of violence and conflict to the political and legal grounds if the conditions arise' is of historic importance. Mr. Öcalan's decisive mission in paving the way and managing the developments in the past periods of ceasefire, dialogue and negotiation is known. The Kurdish people and politics trust in the theoretical and practical power of Mr Öcalan today as they did yesterday; they believe that he is the only addressee and interlocutor for a solution. The Kurdish politics, with all its institutions, has declared that it will act in accordance with its historical and social responsibility for a peaceful solution to the problems of Turkey’s peoples through negotiation and dialogue.
The government must firstly show the society that it is sincere in the discussions it has initiated on the Kurdish issue and take concrete steps. With regard to the Kurdish issue, practice is more important than words. As seen in world examples, trust and social support are vital for a solution. However, the government's talk of internal peace and brotherhood on the one hand, and its pursuit of policies contrary to this on the other, calls into question its sincerity. Attacking every area where Kurds are present outside and carrying out trustee policies inside is not a sign of a solution. On the contrary, it is an insistence on the continuation of a hundred years of rejection and denial policies. With these contradictions in discourse and practice, the government can neither convince the Kurdish people nor the society in Turkey, nor can it get the results it desires for its own power. There will be no solution by ignoring the will of the Kurdish people through the usurpation by trustees, and the Kurdish people will not submit to these attacks today as they did yesterday. The government must immediately give up these policies of trustee usurpation and violence.
This policy means the deepening of problems at home and the continuation of compromising policies abroad. This means that the social, political and economic crises that have emerged as a result of the security policies pursued by the government for the last ten years will evolve into a total collapse. For this reason, the peoples, especially the Kurds, women, youth, workers and the oppressed as a whole expect the AKP-MHP government to be sincere and transparent about the discussions it has initiated. The way to achieve this is for the government to immediately lift the aggravated isolation as required by the constitution and universal legal norms to which it is a party, and to secure Mr Öcalan's conditions of health, safety and freedom. In addition, opportunities for him to meet with his organisation, his lawyers and all social segments in favour of a democratic solution should be created.
On this basis, we call on everyone in favour of peace, democracy and fraternity in Turkey to increase the common struggle against the trustee and monist policies. We invite all peoples, women, youth, labourers and the oppressed to participate in the ‘Democracy and Freedom Rally’ in Batman on 17 November and to speak out against this oppression.”
Call for everyone in favour of peace, democracy and fraternity in Turkey to increase the common struggle and to participate in the ‘Democracy and Freedom Rally’ in Batman on 17 November to speak out against oppression.
ANF
BATMAN
Monday, 11 November 2024
The Platform of Democratic Institutions announced a declaration regarding the ‘Democracy and Freedom’ rally to be held in Batman on 17 November. DBP co-chairs Çiğdem Kılıçgün Uçar and Keskin Bayındır, DEM Party MPs and TJA (Free Women’s Movement) activists attended the press conference held at Petrol İş Union hall in Batman on Monday. The banner ‘We are expanding our freedom march for a democratic country’ was unfurled at the event.
The declaration, read by TJA activist Havva Can in Kurdish and by DEM Party Assembly Member Sema Koç in Turkish, said the following:
“The crises and chaos created by the system of capitalist modernity have spread all over the world, especially in the Middle East. The system's wheel of violence and exploitation has made life unbearable by reaching the level of social destruction, ecocide and femicide. The system, whose bankruptcy is certain with its institutions and rules, has become incapable of managing even its own internal crises, let alone finding solutions to the problems of humanity, which have reached gigantic dimensions. It has become clear that the structural crises of the system have spread to our region and the world as the 3rd World War. Every move of the forces of capitalist modernity, which respond to the peoples' struggle for freedom, democracy and rights with oppression, violence and massacres, to overcome the crisis only deepens the problems even more. The reflection of these wars on the new energy routes of the capitalist modernity system, which is fundamentally based on further profit and exploitation, on the peoples is nothing but oppression, violence, death, massacre, poverty, hunger and new waves of migration.
The Middle East is the centre of the war of profit and exploitation of the capitalist modernity system with which it is in structural contradiction due to its historical, cultural and social heritage. It is contrary to the nature of things that the system, which has turned our region into a bloodbath with the nation-state mentality for a hundred years, finds solutions to the problems it has caused. The separation of peoples who have lived together for thousands of years and have common cultural and social values with a nation-state mentality did not and will not yield any results other than deepening the problems. The wheel of war and exploitation of the system has once again shown that peoples should solve their own problems through dialogue and negotiation and peaceful means. In this context, the 'Democratic Nation' and 'Democratic Confederalism' concepts developed by Mr Abdullah Öcalan offer a great chance to solve the problems of humanity.
The Third World War, which started with the end of the bipolar world order and the Cold War, has reached a new stage. While the crisis created by the Russia-Ukraine war continues at the global level, the local conflict between Israel and Hamas with the events of 7 October has approached the level of a regional war. The war between Israel, Palestine and Lebanon will inevitably have repercussions on the countries of the region in particular and the world in general. The denialist policies of despotic nation-states that reject the historical, cultural, political and social reality of the peoples have made the region open to all kinds of foreign intervention. Despotic powers that try to maintain their power through oppression, violence and massacre have no legitimacy in the eyes of the peoples. Just as no power that did not ensure internal peace has survived throughout history, no structure that continues its policies of rejection and denial has a chance to survive today.
Turkey is one of the countries that has not shown the prudence to solve its fundamental problems with the policies of rejection and denial it has pursued in the Kurdish question and has not achieved internal peace. Policies that ignore the historical, cultural, social and political reality of our geography are the main cause of a periodic conflict for one hundred and fifty years and an uninterrupted conflict for fifty years. Mr Öcalan has repeatedly expressed his will for the conflict process to evolve into a negotiated solution, but these chances and opportunities have been squandered every time. The policies of solutionlessness based on the politics of denial, which have yielded no results, have not gone beyond confirming the regional nature of the Kurdish issue. At the current stage, it is the only way for peoples to solve their problems with their own hands against the opportunism of hegemonic powers and their satellite nation-states to fortify themselves through new wars.
In this context, the discussions on the Kurdish issue, for whatever reason, are positive and important. Mr Öcalan's remark ‘Isolation continues. I have the theoretical and practical power to move this process from the grounds of violence and conflict to the political and legal grounds if the conditions arise' is of historic importance. Mr. Öcalan's decisive mission in paving the way and managing the developments in the past periods of ceasefire, dialogue and negotiation is known. The Kurdish people and politics trust in the theoretical and practical power of Mr Öcalan today as they did yesterday; they believe that he is the only addressee and interlocutor for a solution. The Kurdish politics, with all its institutions, has declared that it will act in accordance with its historical and social responsibility for a peaceful solution to the problems of Turkey’s peoples through negotiation and dialogue.
The government must firstly show the society that it is sincere in the discussions it has initiated on the Kurdish issue and take concrete steps. With regard to the Kurdish issue, practice is more important than words. As seen in world examples, trust and social support are vital for a solution. However, the government's talk of internal peace and brotherhood on the one hand, and its pursuit of policies contrary to this on the other, calls into question its sincerity. Attacking every area where Kurds are present outside and carrying out trustee policies inside is not a sign of a solution. On the contrary, it is an insistence on the continuation of a hundred years of rejection and denial policies. With these contradictions in discourse and practice, the government can neither convince the Kurdish people nor the society in Turkey, nor can it get the results it desires for its own power. There will be no solution by ignoring the will of the Kurdish people through the usurpation by trustees, and the Kurdish people will not submit to these attacks today as they did yesterday. The government must immediately give up these policies of trustee usurpation and violence.
This policy means the deepening of problems at home and the continuation of compromising policies abroad. This means that the social, political and economic crises that have emerged as a result of the security policies pursued by the government for the last ten years will evolve into a total collapse. For this reason, the peoples, especially the Kurds, women, youth, workers and the oppressed as a whole expect the AKP-MHP government to be sincere and transparent about the discussions it has initiated. The way to achieve this is for the government to immediately lift the aggravated isolation as required by the constitution and universal legal norms to which it is a party, and to secure Mr Öcalan's conditions of health, safety and freedom. In addition, opportunities for him to meet with his organisation, his lawyers and all social segments in favour of a democratic solution should be created.
On this basis, we call on everyone in favour of peace, democracy and fraternity in Turkey to increase the common struggle against the trustee and monist policies. We invite all peoples, women, youth, labourers and the oppressed to participate in the ‘Democracy and Freedom Rally’ in Batman on 17 November and to speak out against this oppression.”
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