Dialogue and an honourable peace are the only solutions to the ongoing Kurdish conflict in Turkey, the co-chairs of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party have said, reiterating their calls for peace following the latest deaths of soldiers.
Increased clashes between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Turkish forces in northern Iraq resulted in the killing of nine Turkish soldiers at a military base in the region on Friday.
As the Turkish government responds to the deaths with further attacks in both Iraq and Syria, DEM party co-chairs Tuncer Bakırhan and Tülay Hatimoğulları have shared messages on their social media accounts stressing the need for peace and dialogue.
At a meeting in Istanbul, Bakırhan offered his condolences to the families of fallen soldiers and expressed his party’s commitment to do everything possible to stop the loss of life.
“We who are Kurds, socialists and revolutionaries know the pain of war best,” said Bakırhan. “But those who do not know the pain of war are once again chanting the slogans of war.”
Meanwhile, Hatimoğulları also shared a message on the social media platform X, saying, “The children of the poor should not die so that someone can maintain their power and the powerful and their children can accumulate wealth upon wealth. There must be an end to this pain as soon as possible. That is why we must all join together in calling for peace, louder and stronger.”
As the conflict continues, the DEM leaders stressed the importance of ending the cycle of violence and finding a way to peace through dialogue and mutual respect.
