Human Rights Day was celebrated across Turkey on Sunday with a strong call for the resolution of the Kurdish question, seen by many as the main obstacle to the country’s democratisation process.
To mark the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, activists gathered in several cities to stress the importance of a democratic, peaceful and just solution to the long-running Kurdish conflict.
Gülseren Yoleri, president of the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association (İHD), took to the stage to address the gathered activists, stressing the urgent need for an immediate end to the ongoing clashes between Kurdish guerrillas and Turkish forces. Yoleri also stressed the importance of all parties involved developing sincere and effective programmes to create a non-conflict environment and ultimately promote social peace.
Aslı Sara, co-chair of the Ankara branch of the İHD, raised concerns about a notable increase in violations of the right to life in 2023. Sara attributed this increase to the continued reliance on conflict and war as the primary means of resolving the long-standing Kurdish problem.
Yakup Ataş, the İHD’s Adana branch chair, was highly critical of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, accusing it of pursuing policies based on polarisation and violence. Ataş called for a move away from simply labelling all problems as ‘security’ issues, identifying this tendency as a perpetuating factor in the Kurdish question.
In a separate plea, Aslı Saraç, co-chair of IHD’s Ankara branch, expressed deep concern about human rights violations in prisons. In particular, Saraç pointed to the prolonged isolation in İmralı Prison of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan, which she described as a “chronic problem”.
İHD Ankara co-chair Ömer Faruk Yazmacı emphasised the profound impact of Öcalan’s isolation on the wider resolution of the Kurdish problem, with Öcalan not heard from for 33 months. Yazmacı also drew attention to a disturbing increase in rights violations, highlighting a sharp rise from 200-300 violations in three-month reports between 2012-14 to a staggering 2,291 violations in August, September and October this year.
