Gov’t, PKK discuss charter behind closed doors: CHP

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu criticizes Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with incoherency as he shares a video with his party’s parliementary group. DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin SÖNMEZ

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has rebuffed criticisms that his party has not been supportive enough of the ongoing peace process, saying they mistrust the government, whom he accused of bargaining for a new Constitution with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Following events on March 21, when 76 million people in Turkey “waited” for jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan’s words during Nevruz celebrations in Diyarbakır, Kılıçdaroğlu had a question for the prime minister. “I want to ask [Prime Minister] Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; how come you weren’t embarrassed by that situation? We don’t trust Mr. Erdoğan and his government,” Kılıçdaroğlu said in his address to his party’s parliamentary group. “You are discussing [a new Constitution] with a terrorist organization behind closed doors and you are treating Parliament like a notary. We can never accept this,” Kılıçdaroğlu said, referring to the government-initiated talks with Öcalan that have taken place as part of peace efforts.

CHP ledaer: Government aggravates concerns

People in the west and east had concerns regarding the recent peace process, however, the government’s actions were aggravating those concerns instead of eliminating them, the CHP leader added. Every single member of the CHP advocates a peaceful resolution to the Kurdish issue, Kılıçdaroğlu said, adding that they had proposed the establishment of a parliamentary panel and a parallel wise people commission to discuss the way to solve the Kurdish issue.

Kılıçdaroğlu also slammed prominent media figures who had criticized the CHP for not having suggestions for a solution.

Criticism on media

“Despite our previous proposals and reports concerning a solution, they still ask ‘What is the CHP’s suggestion for resolution?’ We repeatedly explain our proposals, but they don’t hear us. Members of the media should not play the three wise monkeys,” Kılıçdaroğlu said, claiming that journalists would not dare to ask the government’s suggestion for a resolution.

The CHP leader revealed his party’s “16-point proposal for a true democracy,” saying that the party’s proposals may bring true peace. The notion of a terrorist crime should be redefined, according to Kılıçdaroğlu. “If there’s no act of violence, then it should not be defined as a crime of terrorism. In this way, journalists and writers cannot be jailed for their ideas on the grounds that they are terrorists,” Kılıçdaroğlu said. Kılıçdaroğlu further suggested that the law relating to political parties should be re-amended, and that the 10 percent election threshold should be decreased, adding that Nevruz should be made an official holiday.