HDP to propose new solution plan for Kurdish question

Turkey’s Kurdish issue-focused Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) is readying to announce a new plan for a resolution to the decades-old Kurdish question at an extraordinary congress on May 20, HDP spokesperson Osman Baydemir has said, stating that his party will work toward “a process where there is no conflict and war.”

“Our party will start to prepare a call for democracy which will embrace all segments of the society. This call will be inspired by the Nevruz declarations of 2013, 2014 and 2015 and the Dolmabahçe Agreement, which includes all the values required to build a society that will live in harmony,” Baydemir said at a press conference after the HDP’s Central Executive Board meeting on April 8, referring to outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan’s declaration, in which he called for a cease-fire and the group’s militants to lay down their arms.  

The Dolmabahçe Agreement, a document outlining a 10 item list of priorities for the resolution of the Kurdish issue, was a meeting attended by former Deputy Prime Minister Yalçın Akdoğan and HDP representatives on Feb. 28, 2015. 

Answering a question concerning his reference to the agreement, Baydemir said the party made calls to those who did not want death, war or monopoly.

“This country experienced a conflict-free process. To back that experience, there should be an evaluation of what has and has not been done. But the HDP is a part of the solution. The solution requires the cruel to give up on its cruelty,” he said.

Criticizing the government’s policy in Syria, Baydemir said the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) should “stop fueling the fire in Syria.”

“There were two reasons that transformed the peace process into a conflict. One is refusing to recognize the will of June 7 [2015 general elections], while the other is to enforce animosity against Kurds and quell any Kurdish will to rise in Rojava,” he said. 

“If the government will give up on fueling the fire in Syria, the doors to peace politics on a domestic level will be opened. This can be initiated. Peace can be reflected on the Middle East,” he said.

‘New constitution is necessary’

The HDP will hold its extraordinary congress on May 20 to replace jailed co-chair Figen Yüksekdağ after a legal decision stripped her of her seat in parliament. The party will elect its new co-leader while also stressing on the imprisonment of its co-leaders Selahattin Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ along with other members and lawmakers.

Criticizing the constitutional amendment and referendum process, Baydemir stated that the party’s “democracy call” will include a plea to initiate a dialogue process to form a new and inclusive constitution.

Stating that the HDP regards the referendum “illegitimate” in its “content, referendum campaigning and election,” Baydemir said the HDP will not participate in “any act that would legitimize the illegitimate referendum.”
He added that the party will not participate in any legal parliamentary process that will bring about the constitutional changes.

“This discussion is not over. The harmonization laws will not be sufficient to make up for the illegitimacy. If the ruling party wants an example, they should take a look at the Evren Constitution,” he said, referring to the constitution brought by Kenan Evren, the commander-in-chief of the Sep. 12, 1980 military coup.