Turkey

From the electoral landscape, two themes distinctly emerged: the profound polarization across different strata of Turkish society and the ascendance of ultra-nationalism

Tomorrow, the DEM Party delegation will visit İmralı for the third time to meet with Öcalan. Normally, two people would visit İmralı, but this time seven people are going: Ahmet Türk, five parliamentarians, and a lawyer. On Friday, the DEM Party invited all its parliamentarians to Ankara. It is said that necessary clarifications about the visit will be made. Has the time for the announcement come, Mr. Zekeriya?

There are no issues in our relations with Erbil. We are grateful. We have had, and continue to have, brotherly relations with the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq from the past until now. We have no problems with any of them. We are certainly satisfied with both the current administration and the previous administration’s relations with Turkey. Our views on terrorism are aligned, and we share the same perspective on confronting terrorists.

The Kurdish Barometer is a research project that started in Turkey. First, I would like to provide some brief information about the reason for launching this project. This monitoring mechanism, or poll, is designed to track the attitudes and perspectives of Kurdish society on topics such as identity, emotions, cultural attitudes, and political participation in Turkey. Additionally, one of the main goals is to create a monitoring mechanism and database that specifically tracks data related to Kurds, as Kurdish data often gets lost within the official data of countries.

There’s a saying in Turkish: “One who has no doubts about their ablution has no doubts about their prayer.” Even if the President hasn’t explicitly stated such intentions, this tendency may have been observable for quite some time. Still, I cannot say that we, as the DEVA Party, are particularly concerned. However, let me clarify: In the DEVA Party, some individuals—including myself—have roots in the AK Party. Naturally, this background gives rise to certain suspicions, which can be unsettling.

We have an issue in the Kurdistan Region; we are familiar with the national struggle and its consequences, the role of armed movements, and how to engage with such groups. We have always emphasized that taking up arms for a cause—even if it is just—should not be the starting point unless it is absolutely necessary. Especially in this era, armed struggle is not a safe beginning, and when the beginning is unsafe, the end may be unsafe as well. After all, no one produces their own weapons—arms come from somewhere.