“Bring it to parliament, work with parliament, and earn the will of the people,” said Özgür Özel, leader of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), during his party’s weekly parliamentary group meeting in Ankara on Tuesday, as he called on the government to pursue an open and democratic approach to resolving the long-standing Kurdish question.
Özel criticised what he described as a murky and unofficial process currently underway: “A new process is unfolding regarding the Kurdish question. But it’s one they dare not name. They conceal their intentions and what they aim to achieve.”
“We’re told something is going to happen and asked to support it. But we say: Be transparent. Come to parliament. Put it before the parliament. Make parliament function,” Özel said, underlining the need for public and institutional consensus. “Seek the consent of the people, of their representatives, of civil society, of the families of martyrs, veterans, terror victims – of everyone who has suffered in this process.”
Özel was responding to recent news that representatives of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party and Turkey’s Ministry of Justice were preparing to meet to discuss possible legal steps on democratic reforms. While not opposing the talks, he stressed that any initiative must be grounded in democratic legitimacy: “If such meetings create a foundation for parliamentary debate and legislative change, then they must happen. But it cannot be left to ministerial backchannels.”
Framing the CHP’s position as historically consistent, Özel pointed to the shift among government-aligned actors who once rejected even acknowledging a “Kurdish question”. “Those who used to say ‘There is no Kurdish question, only a terrorism problem’ are now, with their feet in the water, slowly beginning to discuss legal reforms and legislative change,” he said.
He warned that democratic principles must not be discarded, even as the ruling alliance seeks to consolidate control. He took aim at the government’s crackdown on İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, following reports that Istanbul University’s Business Faculty had revoked his diploma under political pressure.
“Every coup has a junta. And this junta’s headquarters is in Beştepe. If it’s military, the weapons are tanks. If it’s civilian, the weapon is the judiciary,” Özel said, describing the diploma scandal as part of what he called a “civilian coup”.
He directly accused President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of leading this effort: “With the decision taken on 19 March, Erdoğan has earned the title of junta leader.” Özel added that Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek was the economic pillar of this alleged operation, claiming public funds had been stockpiled not for social needs but for enforcing authoritarian policies.
While touching on broader issues – including attacks on women’s rights and agricultural crises – Özel returned to the central question of peace and democracy: “We stand wherever we stood in the past. We will support any sincere effort that brings peace, where no more Turkish or Kurdish mothers cry, and blood no longer flows.”
Özel also challenged the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli: “They want a Turkey without elections. Are you supporting that, or are you standing with democracy?”
His remarks come amid rising political tensions ahead of potential reform discussions and increased repression of opposition figures and municipalities. The Kurdish question remains unresolved in Turkey, where millions of Kurds demand equal cultural and political rights, decades after armed conflict and failed peace talks.
