“Recognising Abdullah Öcalan’s rights to communication and intellectual work is essential for peace in this country,” said Tülay Hatimoğulları, co-chair of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, during a group meeting in parliament on Tuesday.
Her speech marked a forceful call on the Turkish government to re-engage in dialogue around the Kurdish issue and end the severe isolation imposed on Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), who has been held in solitary confinement on İmralı Island for over two decades.
“We invite the government to heed the people’s calls for peace and to demonstrate a concrete, trustworthy will to pursue a resolution,” Hatimoğulları said, stressing that Öcalan’s recent ‘Call for Peace and Democratic Society‘ represented a historic opportunity.
"This call opens the door to a new era – one that expands bread, peace and democracy. Peace is as vital as bread for working people."
Öcalan’s severely limited access to the outside world and the total media blackout surrounding his condition have long been a point of contention for human rights defenders and Kurdish political groups. Hatimoğulları reiterated that a meaningful peace process cannot begin without addressing the conditions of Öcalan’s detention.
“A democratic society is a security of life for workers and the oppressed,” she said. “In times of peace, the struggle for bread becomes more effective and attainable.”
Her remarks come amid increasing political repression, including recent mass detentions of opposition activists and local government officials. Hatimoğulları condemned the government’s operations as politically motivated efforts to silence dissent and undermine democratic representation in Kurdish-majority areas.
Turning to the economic and social dimensions of peace, Hatimoğulları linked the struggle of Kurdish communities with the broader working-class fight for dignity and justice across Turkey. “The Kurdish people’s struggle for freedom is intertwined with workers’ struggle for their rights,” she said. “Turkish and Kurdish workers must realise that their fate is shared and join hands.”
Hatimoğulları also highlighted the symbolic significance of 1 May, Labour Day, and urged citizens to fill the squares in solidarity:
“We are calling all workers and peoples to take to the streets on May Day – against price hikes, poverty, war, and exploitation,” she said. “Peace breathes with labour, and labour breathes with peace.”
She also referenced DEM Party MP Sırrı Süreyya Önder, a key figure during the 2013-2015 peace process, who is currently hospitalised. “Even in the most hopeless moments, he has been a voice of hope,” Hatimoğulları said. “We are waiting for him, this parliament, this country, this society is waiting for him. Come back, dear Sırrı President, and let’s complete the unfinished work together.”
Referring to the destructive impact of neoliberal policies and state neglect, she tied the recent Istanbul earthquakes and lack of preparedness to broader governance failures. “Millions face disaster unprotected,” she said. “Istanbul stands between two major threats: the earthquake itself and the greed for profit. This is not destiny – it is social murder.”
She criticised the government for focusing on controversial mega-projects like the Istanbul Canal while ignoring public safety. “Those who have destroyed gathering areas and turned a blind eye to zoning corruption are co-conspirators in this coming disaster,” she said. “We repeat once again: immediately cancel the Istanbul canal project.”
Hatimoğulları also spotlighted the deepening economic crisis and worsening labour conditions, particularly for child and migrant workers. Displaying photos of 16-year-old Diyar Kişoğlu, who recently took his own life at a building site, and 14-year-old Abdurrahman, who died in a workplace accident, she said: “Let’s look carefully at these photos. These are the faces of a brutal system that treats workers as disposable.”
Nearly 450 workers were killed in job-related incidents in the past three months alone, Hatimoğulları revealed. "The system functions not just for profit but like a massive death machine,” she said. “In the last 20 years of AKP’s ‘glittering era’, nearly 35,000 workers have been killed in workplace accidents.”
Calling for massive mobilisation on Labour Day, she said: “If you, the workers, stop working even for a single day, all of life halts. That is the power you hold.”
Hatimoğulları ended her speech with a broad appeal for justice, especially for women and vulnerable workers. “Women’s rights must be guaranteed,” she said. “Home-based labour must be covered by social security, and poverty among women must end.”
“We are fighting to end precarious labour, to ensure women work under equal and safe conditions, to eliminate child labour and workplace killings,” she said. “And we will continue this fight – alongside the revolutionaries and socialists from every corner of Turkey who have stood with us.”
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