Tuncer Bakırhan, co-chair of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, stated that achieving peace with the Kurdish population could lead Turkey toward both greater prosperity and a stronger democracy.
Speaking at a community dinner organised by the party’s district branch in Yenimahalle, Ankara on Friday, Bakırhan said that current government policies, which prioritise military spending and suppression of dissent, are undermining the country’s future.
He argued that peace and democracy, rather than authoritarianism and centralised power, offer a viable path forward: “If Turkey learns lessons from the crises unfolding in its strategic region, it can become a democratic republic,” he said. He added that this would require abandoning nationalist and exclusionary ideologies.
Bakırhan referenced the jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, who remains imprisoned on İmralı Island since 1999, and said Öcalan’s recent message supported democratic reform and peaceful coexistence. “Mr Öcalan is hopeful,” he stated. “He believes good things will happen and that preparations are being made. If approached sincerely, Turkey could experience a level of democracy it has never seen before.”
The DEM Party is a pro-Kurdish and left-leaning political party in Turkey, representing a continuation of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), many of whose elected mayors and MPs have been removed from office in recent years, often replaced by government-appointed trustees known as kayyums.
Criticising the government’s military expenditure, Bakırhan called for reallocating national resources away from armed drones and towards public services. “Resources should be spent on workers, students and women—not on armed drones,” he said. “If Turkey achieves social peace with the Kurds, it could become one of the world’s most developed countries.”
He also challenged the notion that natural resources alone bring prosperity, pointing to countries like Iraq, Iran and Syria. “If wealth came from resources alone, these countries would be among the most prosperous,” he said, arguing instead that democracy and inclusive governance are key.
Bakırhan stressed that the party’s struggle was not limited to Kurdish rights but was for the benefit of all citizens. “Not only Kurds, but 85 million people in this country must be able to live with democracy,” he said. Referencing events such as the Soma mining disaster and ongoing issues of religious discrimination, he stated: “We are fighting so that tragedies like Soma don’t happen again, so Alawite citizens can practise their faith freely, and so students can attend free and independent universities.”
He ended his remarks by calling for a united democratic front across ethnic and religious lines, stating: “For 40 years, we have paid every price for this honourable struggle. Our goal is a democratic Turkey for everyone—Turks, Kurds, women, Alawites alike.”
