BDP’S ÖNDER : PKK IS LEAVING TURKEY VERY SOON / “Decisions” or “Negotations”?

April 20, 2013 – Firat News – : Pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Istanbul deputy Sırrı Süreyya Önder said that the withdrawal of Kurdish PKK guerrillas from southeastern Turkey (North Kurdistan) will begin in 8-10 days, in an interview to Hürriyet daily on Saturday. Önder pointed out that after the withdrawal a process of decisions will begin.

Önder said he was hopeful about the process and added that “Following the meetings I held with the representatives of all institutions involved in the decision making process among the PKK guerrillas in Qandil, I have seen that they approach the process with hope and self-confidence in their own power and structure. What hope means to them is being together and believing in a true liberation. What the public cannot see about them is the fact that they are not only military fighters but also people who have the capability and skills of building a new life and hope for the humanity”.

Referring to the withdrawal, Önder said this should pave the way for the removal of obstacles to civil politics which -he underlined- included “the removal of the Mussolinian reference and articles in the law on meetings and demonstrations, abolishment of the anti-terror law that enables the imprisonment of people demanding their legal and politic rights, enabling the representation of all peoples in elections, removal of the ten percent election threshold and removal of the obstacles to the organization of all cultural and religious identities. Arms will become useless once a democratic structure is succeeded in all these areas”, he underlined.

Noting that PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) will withdraw as Öcalan has proposed, Önder said that “all structures within the KCK (Kurdish Communities Union) have a strong will in terms of strengthening Öcalan’s proposal. They are discussing the mechanisms of withdrawal”.

Önder added the followings as to the discussions he had also witnessed during the meetings in Kandil, “Karayılan and the KCK Executive Council strongly objected to the proposal that some in KCK put forward, suggesting that a part of the guerrillas should stay in the northern area (Turkey) as a precautionary measure. It was later agreed that KCK would leave no armed groups in Turkey in order to keep the promise it made to Mr. Öcalan and to the peoples of Turkey”.

Asked about what these guerrillas would do after the withdrawal, Önder said, “KCK staff is currently working on a program for involvement of guerrillas in civil democratic politics on the basis of democratic liberation. It goes without saying that they will be taking other steps in accordance to the fulfillment of the promises the state has made to implement this process”.

Asked about people’s doubts about the genuinity of the government in the peace project, Önder added that the Kurdish people trust in Kurdish leader Öcalan was the main guarantee for the process to succeed.