“Now is the time to build an equal life together—there are no more excuses,” said Tülay Hatimoğulları co-chair of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, during a group meeting in parliament in Ankara on Tuesday, urging Turkey’s ruling authorities to take concrete steps toward resolving the Kurdish question and ending decades of conflict.
Hatimoğulları stressed the significance of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan’s rare 27 February message calling for a “Peace and Democratic Society” process. Describing the statement as “the call of the century”, she said: “This is a historic page. It is a unique opportunity to end a 50-year conflict.”
The call was echoed, she said, by a recent declaration from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which on 12 May announced it was closing an era and “opening a new chapter” by re-evaluating its position. Hatimoğulları described the announcement as “a turning point” that opened a path toward peace and democratisation not only for Turkey but for the entire Middle East.
“People are now asking key questions,” she added. “How will democracy develop in Turkey? What will become of Kurdish rights? How can all identities and beliefs live freely and equally? These are the questions we must answer if we want a solution.”
The veteran leftist politician emphasised that conditions were now ripe for action. “There are no longer any legitimate reasons to delay steps under the pretext of violence and conflict,” Hatimoğulları said. “The government must act with urgency. Legal, political, and cultural reforms must be launched. The classical security mindset must be abandoned.”
Hatimoğulları also referenced the economic cost of prolonged conflict and militarisation. “People are starving,” she said. “They are hopeless. And yet, this government has been following the same failed economic programme for two years.”
She highlighted that Turkey had spent 725 billion lira on interest payments in the first four months of the year, while military expenditures and security-focused policies had drained public funds. “If these resources had been spent on workers, the poor, or social welfare, we would not be suffering such deep hunger and poverty,” she argued. “We have seen the price of conflict in the crumbs of our bread.”
Calling for a shift toward what she termed a “peace economy”, Hatimoğulları said: “This economic model could save us. With fairer distribution, fewer working hours, and better wages for the poorest, we can rebuild.”
Turning back to the political dimension, she expressed frustration that imprisoned opposition politicians—such as Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ—were still awaiting detailed court verdicts in the Kobani (Kobanê) trial. “Justice is being delayed,” she said. “We send our greetings to all political prisoners. They, too, await justice.”
Hatimoğulları underlined the importance of bipartisan cooperation and said her party had already begun its fourth round of meetings with other political factions to build momentum behind peace efforts. After meetings with the Democracy and Progress (DEVA) Party and the Felicity Party (SAADET), she said DEM Party would hold talks with Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the New Welfare Party (YRP) later in the day, followed by others, including the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its far-right partner Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
“During these visits, we are focusing on a clear and practical roadmap for peace,” she said. “We are discussing the role that parliament must play and why it must take on its historic responsibility.”
Hatimoğulları also praised MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli’s recent proposal for a parliamentary commission, describing it as “valuable and worth serious consideration”. She said such a commission could form the legal basis for Öcalan’s proposed ‘Peace and Democratic Society’ process and monitor its future phases.
“People are ready,” she concluded. “Conditions are ready. Now is the time for peace, for democracy, for justice. It’s time to write a new chapter of freedom in every corner of this country—with the blue ink of liberty on the white pages of peace.”
