Members of the DEM Party’s İmralı Delegation, Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar, met with Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş on Thursday for a visit described as both a courtesy meeting and a discussion about the ongoing peace process.
During the press briefing after the meeting, Buldan emphasised that the process had reached an important stage, expressing hope for constructive dialogue. To this end, she announced that visits to other party leaders, including Erdoğan, would take place within two weeks, prior to a planned visit to Imralı to meet Abdullah Öcalan.
Underlining the importance of dialogue within parliament, Buldan stressed the need to advance the process through democratic and peaceful means. This includes forming a parliamentary commission to support the peace process, which Kurtulmuş agreed would be established through cross-party consensus before parliamentary adjournment.
Regarding the expected formation of a parliamentary commission to guide the process, Mithat Sancar stated that Parliament’s involvement would enhance the legitimacy of the peace process. He added that Parliament would play a vital role in providing the process with social legitimacy, legal assurance and steady progress. He stressed that the prospective commission’s composition, authorities and working methods would be determined by consensus, in line with Kurtulmuş’s commitment to establishing it before Parliament’s recess.
Despite the generally constructive outcome of the meeting and the latest developments, Buldan expressed criticism of the recent ruling of the Kobani trial, calling for the immediate release of the imprisoned party members as there is no concrete evidence against them.
Former co-chairs of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş, are among the imprisoned party members, having been sentenced to decades in prison each, and having already spent over seven years in prison on, what Buldan claims is, a weak legal basis.
Buldan drew attention to the fact that the court’s decision document is 32,630 pages long, yet the appeal process can only take place within a maximum period of one week. Still, an appeal will be lodged. Buldan added that, having finally received the court’s long-awaited reasoned decision, which was so voluminous yet lacked concrete facts, this trial’s invalidity and lack of basis were once again confirmed.
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