ANKARA : Democracy and Peace Conference opens today

ANF – Ankara 25.05.2013 – BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) Istanbul deputy and HDK (People’s Democratic Congress) executive member Sebahat Tuncel  spoke to DİHA about the two-day “Democracy and Peace Conference” to take place in Ankara on 25-26 May.

The conference has been organized by HDK as part of the four conferences Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan proposed as a necessity for the ongoing process of talks aimed at a peaceful and democratic solution to the Kurdish question. Öcalan said the conferences were of importance in terms of highlighting the opinions and proposals of all relevant circles about the resolution process.

Preparations are underway for the other three conferences which will be held in Amed, Brussels and Hewler. The preliminary meeting for the conference in Europe, which is expected to be held in late June, will take place in Brussels on 19 May and witness participation from Europe and Scandinavian countries as well as by the representatives of all ethnic groups in European diaspora, belief groups, political groups, left-wing, democrat and opponent groups and all other circles supporting the democratic solution process.

The conference in Amed will be organized by DTK (Democratic Society Congress) as a follow-up of the Ankara conference. It is expected to be attended by all circles in northern Kurdistan.

The Hewler conference will be attended by the representatives of all political parties and NGOs from the four parts of Kurdistan. A delegation led by KCK (Kurdish Communities Union) Executive Council member Sabri Ok held a meeting with Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (YNK), Goran Movement and some political parties in Sulaimaniyah early May about the historic process Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan initiated on 21 March, the general situation of Kurds, the national conference and the recent developments in Turkey. KCK foreign affairs executive Ahmed Deniz said they would continue their talks with the Kurdish parties in Rojava and Rojhilat as well.

The conference in Ankara had been called for by a group of intellectuals, academics, writers and artists including Vedat Türkali, Murathan Mungan, Orhan Pamuk, Rakel Dink, Yaşar Kemal, Tarık Ziya Ekinci, Prof. Yakın Ertürk, Prof. Ioanna Kuçuradi, Prof. Gençay Gürsoy, Prof. Şebnem Korur Fincancı and Arif Sağ.

BDP deputy Sebahat Tuncel, who is also taking part in the technical commission of the conference, said the conference was important for bringing into view the perspective of social circles towards the solution and negotiation process going on in the country. Tuncel stated that representatives of unions, NGOs, women’s and youth organizations, belief groups, political parties, journalists, academics and individuals as well as KESK, DİSK, TTB, TMMOB, Halkevleri, Alewits, Initiative for Peace and Women’s Initiative for Peace will be attending the conference to discuss the steps to be taken to improve the process and the ways to be followed in order to create a more liveable environment in the country. She said today’s sessions in the conference will be followed on the second day by debates to sum up the consclusions reached on the first day, adressing the establishment of a new future and a democratic constitution, general principles of peace and a democratic solution to the Kurdish question.

“All social circles that are subjected to the Turkish state’s repressive assimilation and denial policy will come together and raise a common voice about how to ensure a together living for all peoples in Turkey”, Tuncel said. BDP deputy Tuncel pointed out that the conference will also contribute to the development of a process aimed at a lasting peace as well as to democratization, human rights and freedoms in the country. She added that the conference will besides end up with an agreement on the way of the struggle to be made in the coming phase.