Demirtaş: We have no other choice than peace and living together

* Photo: Selahattin Demirtaş's Twitter account

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Behind bars in Edirne Prison in northwestern Turkey since November 2016, former Co-Chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtaş has written an article for Medyascope news website.

In his article, Selahattin Demirtaş has also referred to the recent debates on closing the HDP, especially by the AKP-ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and the summaries of proceedings awaiting to be debated and voted by the General Assembly of the Parliament, which might lead several HDP MPs to be stripped of their legislative immunity.

Addressing the social opposition and opposition parties, Demirtaş has made a call to "take responsibility for peace." 

Referring to the killing of 13 people in Gare two weeks ago, Demirtaş has said, "The tragedy that unfolded in Gare in the last weeks has painfully reminded all of us about how important and vital peace is."

Demirtaş has briefly written the following:

'We cannot abandon democratic politics'

"The government's political style has long overstepped the boundaries of irrationality. There is, unfortunately, no mad thing that they did not or will not do out of concerns for votes and seats.

"However, the political institution must not fully give in to this abdication of reason. Amid all this destruction, there is a need for a sincere and strong will that will keep the hopes for peace alive.

"The mothers' and father' sons and daughters do not grow on trees. We, Turks and Kurds, are still losing our lives and loved ones, we are grieved.

"Rather than seeing guns and violence as a solution method, we must take democratic politics as our basis. One cannot abandon democratic politics. Politicians with a sense of responsibility must lay the groundwork for an exact and lasting solution without losing time.

'Time to be more courageous'

"The main opposition party and all opposition parties have made several statements to the point so far. However, no concrete steps have been unfortunately taken in parallel to these statements.

"Will sorrows and deaths continue or will everyone take the bull by the horns for peace by taking concrete steps? In my opinion, it is high time to be more courageous for our peace. There must be no more delay in developing concrete policies in that regard.

"All circles in favor of peace must come together without delay, develop a political solution project with common sense and announce it to the public.

"All democracy forces, primarily the HDP, must take more initiative for the domestic peace of the country and put forward a course of action that will take society out of this chaos and hopelessness.

"The HDP has been making serious efforts about this issue; however, its execution, way of doing politics and language must be arranged in accordance with these aims. The debates on closing the HDP and lifting the legislative immunities in such an environment will apparently make no contribution to peace. I hope that this mistake will not be made again for the sake of cheap political calculations.

'Raising the hopes for peace'

"In order to prevent any speculations, I would like to clearly indicate that I am not talking about a new resolution process for the time being. I would like to draw attention to the necessity to develop a new understanding and language of solution in politics and to make these concrete. Believe me, if we can do this together, the rest is not that hard!

"On this occasion, I call on all people in favor of peace to take an active stance. We all have responsibility in carrying the issue beyond the vicious debate of 'condemnation and distancing oneself' and taking a strong initiative to end violence and guns for good.

"As I have indicated in the introduction to my article, we must take democratic politics as our basis, rather than regarding guns and violence as a solution method. It means distancing oneself from violence according to universal democratic standards.

"I know that it is not easy even to talk about peace amid aggravating poverty, health problems restricting our lives due to the pandemic and deepening polarization. But without talking about our burning issues too, we cannot find lasting solutions to any of our problems.

"For this reason, it is now time to raise the hopes for peace despite everything. We, the ones who want peace, are ready for this." (DŞ/SD)