"Democratic Autonomy" Model Takes Shape

Turkish academics, politicians, journalists and intellectuals from all over the country followed the invitation of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Congress (DTK) to a workshop on the discussion of the DTK's demand for "democratic autonomy"

The meeting was held in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakır in south-eastern Turkey during the weekend (18/19 December). The discussions were based on the model introduced by the DTK and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP).

The workshop was attended by DTK Co-Chairs Ahmet Türk and Aysel Tuğluk, BDP Co-Chairs Selahattin Demirtaş, Diyarbakır Metropolitan Mayor Osman Baydemir, writer and journalist Mehmet Altan, former deputy secretary of Turkey's secret service MIT Cevat Öneş, Turkey Peace Parliament Spokesman Hakan Tahmaz, journalists Ali Bayramoğlu, Hakan Tahmaz, Oral Çalışlar, Ayşe Hür and Hüseyin Akyol, journalist and director Sırrı Süreyya Önder, DTK member and writer Altan Tan, Ayhan Bilgen from the Turkish Peace Parliament and bianet project co-ordinator Ertuğrul Kürkçü.

The introductory speech was delivered by Kurdish politician Türk. Read parts of his speech as follows:

"The Kurdish People have a significant population in Turkey and are the majority in a huge geographical region. They want to realize their request for a Democratic Republic and Democratic Autonomy".

"The Kurdish People want to participate in the governance of social, cultural, identifying and economic areas; they want to have the principle of legitimacy and decentralization applied. They see it as their indispensible right to grant constitutional and legal security to their own geographic region not only for themselves but for all beliefs and identities in Kurdistan".

"We, as the Democratic Society Congress, suggest the model of Democratic Autonomy as a solution for the Kurdish question, one of the most pressing problems in Turkey, as you know".

"We have been putting forward and discussing this model since 2008. We propounded this suggestion openly in the program of the Peace and Democracy Party and before that of the Democratic Society Party (DTP). I believe that this model will become more clear and comprehensible in all its aspects during the discussions to be held in the next two days. I also want to tell you that we intend to organize this kind of workshops more frequently".

"We will discuss all details of a Democratic Autonomy regarding the political organization - the formation of city assemblies, the sort of relation to be established with the state in legal terms, the possible legal status, the anticipated model of society in social terms, the public security situation and aspects of language and culture".

"We will review other experiences in the world and will try to reveal similarities and differences in comparison".

On the second day of the workshop, the participants were provided with an outline of the model and discussions continued based on the outline. (EÜ/VK)

Source: Fırat News Agency.