In a recent interview with Medyascope, an independent journalism platform founded by veteran Turkish journalist Ruşen Çakır, the spokesperson of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), Ayşegül Doğan, strongly criticised the Erdoğan government’s treatment of Abdullah Öcalan. She described Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), as a crucial force for peace in Turkey and condemned his incommunicado detention as a violation of human rights and an obstacle to peace.
“The person we’re talking about – well, the experience of 2013, the [peace] process that started in 2011 and lasted until 2015 – has shown Turkey that [Öcalan], who is imprisoned on İmralı Island, is a force for peace. He has the power to end this war,” Doğan said.
“To keep someone who has such power in total isolation is first of all a method of torture, a violation of human rights and a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights,” she continued. “You’re not going to abide by the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights, you’re not going to abide by the rulings of the Constitutional Court, you’re not going to abide by your own laws.”
Detailing the Turkish authorities’ isolation policies used against Öcalan, Doğan concluded: “You’ll deny a person the right to see their family and lawyers, you’ll ban them from using their phone. And yet you know that this person has the power to stop the war. Yes, that’s why this is our most important task, because we want life to win over war.”
The DEM Party has raised these concerns on international platforms, and co-chair Tülay Hatimoğulları recently led a delegation to Strasbourg for meetings with senior Council of Europe officials. Discussions focused on Turkey’s growing authoritarianism and human rights violations, in particular its failure to comply with the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the continued isolation of Abdullah Öcalan.
In addition, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) published a report following its visit to Turkish prisons in June. The DEM Party stresses that Öcalan’s isolation violates international human rights standards and calls on European institutions to put pressure on Turkey to fulfil its obligations.
European representatives such as Andrej Hunko warned that Turkey’s failure to comply with ECHR rulings undermines its standing within the Council of Europe and called for immediate action to uphold human rights.
Doğan also commented on the recent handshake between Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli and members of the DEM Party, a gesture that has sparked discussions about a possible new peace process. While many observers speculate that the handshake symbolises a shift in Turkey’s approach to the Kurdish issue, Doğan was cautious, stressing the importance of action over symbolic gestures.
“There is no backdoor diplomacy,” Doğan clarified in response to Çakır’s questions about the possibility of secret negotiations. “We are committed to sharing everything openly and transparently with the public, especially in these times. Throughout the whole election process, and even after the elections, we didn’t hide anything. You can’t arrest people for dancing to Kurdish music, or arrest people for teaching Kurdish, and at the same time claim to be seeking a peaceful solution through backdoor diplomacy. It is simply not possible.”
Doğan reiterated that the DEM Party was committed not only to resolving the Kurdish question, but also to addressing Turkey’s wider social and economic challenges. She cited the party’s summer-long ‘Bread and Justice’ campaign aimed at reaching out to the working classes – a project, she noted, that had received no coverage in the mainstream media.
Referring to Turkey’s economic crisis and the reluctance of foreign investors, Doğan said: “We are talking about a terrible economic crisis. Some AKP officials admitted at the 1 October reception that democracy issues are indeed deterring foreign investors. But while they whisper this in back rooms, they label parties like ours, or the main opposition, as troublemakers because we openly declare these issues to the public”.
As Turkey faces ongoing political tensions, Doğan stressed that the DEM Party sees Öcalan as an important interlocutor for peace. “We believe that this peace force should be appreciated. We think it’s crucial to give the project of coexistence a chance and to respect the role [Öcalan] could play in making it a reality,” she concluded.
