‘The New Resolution Process’

Selahattin Demirtaş, the jailed former co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), wrote on the rumours regarding the likelihood of a new ‘resolution process’ to be launched by the political administration in Turkey in response to the Kurdish question, and on those that Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), may be allowed visits from his family and lawyers.

“AKP currently has neither any intention, nor a capability and a qualification for a resolution. It signifies an exhausted political will that is in the process of dissolution, bogged down in injustices, oppression and corruption. The steps it’ll take will have no further meaning than trivial and cheap manipulations for elections,” Demirtaş wrote for Yeni Yaşam.

Will it happen? Sure it will. The Kurdish question will sooner or later be resolved peacefully through dialogue and negotiations.

I’m telling this not by any reference to rumours brought up yet again recently, but as a principal approach.

Dear Pervin Buldan expressed very clearly in her latest address to the parliamentary group that AKP [Justice and Development Party] is not looking for a resolution, but on the contrary, is in the process of a dissolution.

Let’s look at the facts.

A fervid discussion has begun after the ‘March to Gemlik’ campaign in protest against isolation [of Abdullah Öcalan], sparked by the rumour that some visits to İmralı [the prison island where Öcalan is kept in severe isolation] will be allowed.

Will there be a new letter by Öcalan regarding coming elections? Will the HDP and AKP come to some terms? Will the resolution process resume? Will the Kurds remain neutral in the elections?

There has recently been a rapid succession of such questions and answers.

Despite clear and comprehensive statements from HDP, discussions will apparently not end. That’s fine; everyone has the the right to discuss, and it’s only convenient that they do any way. However, discussions won’t bear fruit in case some facts are not taken into consideration and if some assesments aren’t made.

Let’s go step by step and see what these are.

– Isolation is a practice of torture that is both lawless and unethical. Defending isolation means defending torture. Mr. Öcalan has the lawful right, like every other prisoner, to meet with his family and lawyers. To call for the ‘ending of isolation’ is neither an offense, nor something wrong. Calling for the contrary is both unethical and constitutes a complicity in an offense.

– Isolation is also a wrong policy. Enabling Öcalan to be heard increases not conflicts but the likelihood of a resolution. Haven’t we witnessed that he tried to do this several times in every opportunity, that he made calls for peace?

– Opposing a resolution process is outright warmongering. To talk about the resolution process as if it’s some kind of plague means advocating for death. Still, everyone has the right to criticize the methods and means of the resolution process and to make suggestions.

– To create impressions that öcalan is likely to support AKP, or does support it, is absolutely wrong and unfair. Mr. Öcalan will make use of even the slightest opportunity for peace. On the the other hand, he’s experienced enough not to let hopes of peace be exploited for election success.

– Öcalan has yet delivered not even a single instruction to HDP, and neither will he ever deliver any. This is not his style. He only makes suggestions and calls, accompanied by a rationale. Such suggestions and calls of his have always been thorougly discussed and evaluated by HDP officials, while they have also been taken into consideration by the officials of every single political party; and yet, decisions have ultimately and freely been made by HDP officials.

– Öcalan is a peacemaker figure of utmost influence in the context of the armed conflict both inside and outside the borders of Turkey. There can be no progress without his support and contribution. The PKK will take into account nobody but Öcalan.

The address for democratization and ultimate resolution is the Turkish parliament, and the interlocutors are HDP, other political parties and the people itself.

AKP currently has neither any intention, nor a capability and a qualification for a resolution. It signifies an exhausted political will that is in the process of dissolution, bogged down in injustices, oppression and corruption. The steps it’ll take will have no further meaning than trivial and cheap manipulations for elections.

The supporters of HDP and Kurdish voters signify an experienced, politically conscious and organized power. They are aware of everything, and they will act accordingly when the day comes. All moves by AKP to deceive and trick are doomed to fail before the will of the people.

– The opposition, instead of engaging in speculative discussions whether AKP will launch a new resolution process or whether this is merely a trick, should put forth its own strategy for the resolution of the Kurdish question. The political administration will continue to exploit the Kurdish question and the resolution process as long as the opposition does not make its strategy clear. I’m talking about the opposition making it clear in general terms what kind of a resolution process they’re projecting in the case of an election victory; not about a process involving AKP. It is crucial for the future of Turkey that a consensus on a resolution strategy is reached between opposition parties including HDP, if the Kurdish question is to be resolved peacefully and in the context of a unified Turkey.

That’s how I see the situation.