Mithat Sancar, the co-chair of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) said a recent remark by the main opposition’s party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu that the Kurdish question in Turkey could be resolved with HDP was a positive one.
Kılıçdaroğlu, the Chair of the People’s Republican Party (CHP) lately stated that HDP, with its popular support and presence in the Turkish National Assembly, could be considered a legitimate organisation, and that the Kurdish question could be resolved only with such an organisation.
Sancar, in an exclusive interview by the Mesopotamia News Agency, emphasised that the HDP was a political actor with enough political weight to solve all the problems in Turkey.
“We’ve evaluated the statement of Kılıçdaroğlu in party councils and have discussed it,” he said. “We think that the part with an emphasis on HDP is quite positive. It is also important that he has declared his intent on resolving the Kurdish question. As a matter of fact, the role of HDP in this context ought to be clear, because HDP is a party which expresses its role whenever possible… HDP is a party which seeks to solve all problems in Turkey. It’s a political actor with enough political weight to solve all the problems.”
Sancar indicated that their objective was to achieve democracy and peace in Turkey through the resolution of the Kurdish question:
“The HDP has the legacy of all of its predecessors; all parties which had the objective of resolving the Kurdish question in a peaceful and democratic way. The HDP has placed this objective into a more integral and wider framework. For the HDP, the resolution of the Kurdish question constitutes the very basis of democratisation in Turkey. Our objective is to achieve democracy and peace in Turkey.”
Underlining that the Kurdish question in Turkey is a multidimensional issue with many actors involved, Sancar said that ignoring some of the main actors would not be helpful:
“If the primary objective is reaching a political solution, it has got to be noted that the address for this is the Turkish National Assembly. On the other hand, however, if we are seeking permanent peace, then a broad social base and popular legitimacy is required. There are other actors involved regarding the Kurdish question. It’s not realistic, or practical to ignore some of these actors.
When asked to comment on a recent tweet by former co-chair of the party, Sezai Temelli, that the real address for the democratic solution was İmralı (reference to the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party leader Abdullah öcalan imprisoned on İmralı Prison island), Sancar said this was Temelli’s personal opinion:
“Our friend has expressed his own opinion. This is something that is possible in the HDP. It’s possible not only in HDP but in all parties. This is an opinion, a personal view… Actually, we should have got passed the discussion on the role of Imralı. İmralı will have a role in this matter as it actually has done in the past. Holding up the role of İmralı against the role of HDP makes it more difficult to implement an integrated approach for the resolution of the Kurdish question.”
