In a shared press statement, the Bar Association and the Medical Association of Şırnak, a Kurdish-majority province in the southeast of Turkey, have called on the PKK, the government, political parties and NGOs to take the necessary steps to solve the Kurdish question.
Nuşirevan Elçi, president of the bar association, and İsmail Vesek, president of the medical association, called for the following:
Unlimited ceasefire: While they welcomed the PKK's extension of its unilateral ceasefire to 15 July, they have argued that nothing can be solved in such a short time. They have thus called for an unlimited extension of the ceasefire.
Acceleration of Civil Constitution Project: They further called on the government to accelerate the work on a civil constitution, which would represent "an indication of good will". They added that Kurdish demands had to be taken into account.
Constructive attitude from opposition: The Şırnak representatives have criticised that the positive steps taken by President Abdullah Gül have not been followed by support in parliament. The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) must also take responsibility and work towards a solution.
The associations also added that a solution had to go beyond a few laws allowing Kurdish broadcasting or Kurdology departments at universities.
For a peace process to be successful, there had to be an absence of violence, so the associations. Society had to be prepared for a solution through the involvement of NGOs, intellectuals, artists and community leaders.
The representatives also blamed "provocateurs" for undermining the ceasefire with solitary acts of violence. (TK/AG)
