"CHP Avoids Kurdish Question"

"If the Kurdish question can be solved by economic measures only, as suggested by the CHP [Republican People's Party], let us sit down and talk about the money spend on weapons. If the weapons fall silent, it will pave the way to a political solution and also allocate sources to the economic development. I observe that Kılıçdaroğlu was not clear about the Kurdish question. Otherwise, he would have to make a positive opposition and he would have to come up with his own proposals instead of taking a stand against the government's suggestions".

The former President of the Diyarbakır Medical Chamber, Necdet İpekyüz, board member of the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TİHV), emphasized that the five clauses in the proposal package presented by Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Chair of the Republican People's Party (CHP) does not even include the word "Kurd".

In a meeting on Thursday (15 July), Kılıçdaroğlu talked with a high-rank delegation of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He suggested reducing the election threshold, removing special authority courts, increasing state investments, encouraging cattle breeding and agriculture and allocating areas that have been cleared of mines to peasants. He did not comment on the "private army", a topic Prime Minister Erdoğan had brought up in talks with other opposition parties.

Proposals not significant in present situation

After the meeting, Kılıçdaroğlu said, "the Prime Minister did not suggest anything that would disturb us". TİHV board member İpekyüz criticized, "Everybody is disturbed by the current trend in Turkey. The CHP should be disturbed by the talks of the prime minister, they should transform that disturbance into a discussion and come up with new suggestions".

İpekyüz reminded the fact that Kılıçdaroğlu sparked hopes in his speech at the party congress wheer he had been elected CHP chair. The "expectations for a positive opposition" have not been fulfilled until now, İpekyüz emphasized.

"Yes, the election threshold should be decreased, but this is not sufficient to strengthen democracy. Special authority courts should be removed but it is more important to lift legal provisions that restrict freedom of speech and that leave children in prison. Unless that is not done, what difference does it make if the children are tried at court A or court B?

"Yes, they should clear the mines. Yet, they are planting new mines right now. If the weapons fall silent, those proposals might be a milestone but today they are not significant. The CHP is avoiding the Kurdish question". (EÜ/VK)