Peace during local elections the goal, Kurdish politician tells daily

ISTANBUL

Zübeyir Aydar, an executive committee member of the Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress (KNK), says his movement wants the upcoming local elections in Turkey to proceed in a peaceful atmosphere. DAILY NEWS photo

A senior Kurdish politician living in Brussels has said his movement wants the upcoming local elections in Turkey to proceed in a peaceful atmosphere, according to daily Taraf.

“We want the elections to take place in a peaceful atmosphere. There is no such thing as us wanting to enter the elections with armed [actions], as is said in the Turkish public. We seek an atmosphere that suits the meaning of the elections,” Zübeyir Aydar, executive committee member of the Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress (KNK), told Taraf on Dec. 9, in reference to the local elections set for March 2014.

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) will wait until spring before making a decision on the process, as previously announced by imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. However, a new evaluation was needed for the process after that date, according to Aydar, a former deputy of the Democracy Party (DEP), a pro-Kurdish party that was closed down in 1994.

“We started a process with Turkey a year ago. We are sincere in this process. Despite all the obstacles and unfulfilled promises, we are continuing the peace process in the hope of having a motivation that will keep it going in peace," he said. "This is why leader Apo [Öcalan] said, ‘I will wait until spring.’”

However, Aydar also warned that the process could be terminated if they believe the government is failing to take any action.

“We will push for peace until the very end. But at the moment we say the government does not have the intention of taking steps, then it will be stopped. We have brought the process forward so far by taking unilateral steps. But [in spring], there will be a need for a new evaluation,” he said. 

The former DEP deputy also called for the "opening of the doors of dialogue," even during times of fierce fighting. “The doors of dialogue should not be closed down. We left the doors of dialogue open even during the toughest times of the war. This is our current evaluation. The next process will be determined by the [Turkish] state’s attitude,” he said.

Aydar, who was involved in the Oslo process when the government held secret talks with PKK figures in 2009, said the process needed a "third party," as was the case in the Oslo process.