Civil society eyes meeting with party leaders

ANKARA

An initiative called Small National Assemblies of Turkey (TkMM), a civil initiative aimed at building a bridge between civil society and lawmakers, has sent letters to the leaders of all four political parties requesting their participation in its November meetings.

“Your participation does not have to be full-time. Even if you participate for a symbolic time, the message that this will give to both the public and your organization is precious and important. Considering the heavy participation of civil society, there is a need for your participation in order to balance the low representation of politics in this joint effort,” said the identical letters, according to a statement released on Nov. 5 by prominent human rights activist Şanar Yurdatapan, who leads the initiative.

Separately, the sub-bodies of TkMM in 21 provinces have sent faxes to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) co-chairs Gültan Kışanak and Selahattin Demirtaş, and People’s Democratic Party (HDP) co-chairs Sebahat Tuncel and Ertuğrul Kürkçü, in order to reiterate their invitation.

“Apart from the low number of well-intentioned deputies, nobody is taking this matter seriously. They regard it as a fantasy that they can join if they find time,” Yurdatapan added in his statement.