"Suspension of Withdrawal Can Be Resolved Easily”

“KCK’s decision is no surprise. The process obviously arrived to this point. If the government takes a step forward, the issue will be resolved easily,” BDP Co-Chairperson Kışanak commented on KCK’s recent statement to suspend its withdrawal from Turkey. 

Speaking at a joint press conference by HDP and BDP in Istanbul, Kışanak responded inquiries on KCK’s halt of its withdrawal [from Turkey]. 

"We warned the government on the stalemate”

“From the very beginning, BDP made tremendous efforts for the process to run smoothly. And we will do in the future. We are wishing this process to run smoothly without any interruptions. The suspension decision might cause a stalemate in the resolution process. This is an issue. We have to address and resolve this. 

"Negotiations are underway since January, however we don’t see any efforts from the government to resume the process. For the past couple of months, we have warned the government. However, we didn’t get any positive response. 

"This statement is no surprise. If only it didn’t come to this point. I hope the government will do its part and act within responsibility. 

"They will make an effort to make the parliament running. Because the resolution of this stalemate is everybody’s responsibility. All stakeholders including the government, parliament, BDP, media and public opinion must do its part to create a positive attitude instead of a stalemate.”

"We offered an observation committee”

Addressing press inquiries on concrete steps, Kışanak said the following: 

"What ensuring steps did the government take in the past 8 months? The Wise People Commission reports have remained untouched in PM’s office drawers. We have observed the impending stalemate for the past month. Therefore, we proposed to form a committee that would independently observe the process. However, we received no response. We have brought up the concrete steps issue several times: New democratic reforms, removal of obstacles against press and expression freedom, removal of Anti-Terror Act...We need to change the electoral quotas and law on political parties. Not only the government took no steps regarding these issues, its discourse portrayed an opposite attitude. It is easy to undo the suspension of withdrawal. It is hard to acquire the government a democratic mentality.” (NV/BM) 

* Click here to read the original article in Turkish.