PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is being held under isolation conditions in İmralı Type F High Security Closed Prison, held a meeting with the DEM Party İmralı Delegation on 28 December. After the meeting, Abdullah Öcalan's 7-point message on the solution was made public.

 

Amed Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DTSO) chair Mehmet Kaya evaluated the talks held by the delegation and the messages reflected to the public.

 

Stating that Turkey experienced a "peace" process in 2013-2015, but the processes were not similar to each other, Kaya said that a "right start" was made for a new process. Kaya pointed out that the mistakes made in the past process and the risks that were not calculated were taken into consideration more in this process and tried to create a method, and said, "Here, the fact that Devlet Bahçeli is a leader trusted by the nationalists and therefore holds the nationalist base, and the fact that Abdullah Öcalan is a leader trusted by the Kurds and therefore the doubts of the people are eliminated, are the first important positive steps inevitably given to the process."

 

'PARLIAMENT MUST FULFIL ITS DUTIES'

 

Underlining that there is anxiety in the region regarding the ongoing process, Kaya stated that one of the reasons for this is the economic problems in the region and the other is the policies towards the Kurds living in the border regions. Kaya warned that if the right steps are not taken, the support for the process will be low and Kaya said, "We need to make the parliamentary leg of the work strong. CHP, AKP, DEM Party, MHP and other parties should also take steps on the parliamentary side of the process. When we look back today, if both Abdullah Öcalan and many people point to the Parliament, the Parliament should fulfil its duty in this process."

 

Kaya underlined that civil society organisations that will support political parties should also be included in the parliamentary process.

 

'PUBLIC SUPPORT IS IMPORTANT'

 

Emphasising that the government should take quick confidence-building steps to eliminate the political, social and economic grievances experienced by Kurds in this process, Kaya said, "Social support can be provided with these steps. Likewise, the DEM Party and Kurdish politics should take the same steps. It is a fact that the AKP government, Kurdish politics and the organization have some work to do. At the same time, there are also things that the parliament must do. Public support for these must be provided for all three to be formed. Without public support, it becomes open to provocation. If there is a problem in even one of them, the process may be interrupted."

 

Kaya noted that the ongoing process should be carried out in the right way and said, "Social support should be provided by using the right language instead of disinformation in the discussions. The unity of Kurds and Turks expressed today should be positioned correctly. Just saying 'we are brothers' and 'we love Kurds' is not enough. At the same time, Turkey should stop opposing fundamental rights and freedoms in the regions where Kurds live; in Iraq, Syria and Turkey. We therefore support these talks. As the Platform (Amed City Protection and Solidarity Platform), we will visit all political party leaders in Ankara next week."

 

MA / Müjdat Can