Karayılan: Everybody should play their role for peace

Karayılan: Everybody should play their role for peace

Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) Executive Council president Murat Karayılan and member Ronahi Serhat answered journalists' questions on a program on Nuçe Tv on Wednesday.

We publish some parts of the interview.

How would you summarize the message of Öcalan's call which closely concerns all Kurds in four parts of Kurdistan as well as the countries in the Middle East region?

He proposes to develop a new line and a new perception in the region and this means the beginning of a new process.
He grounds his proposal on a solution involving both Kurds and Turks, the two larger nations in the region, and the principle of a common life. His perspective which will also lead to the beginning of a new process in the Middle East aims to form a Confederation of Middle East Peoples in the process of time.

Which kind of responsibilities are to be undertaken by the sides involved in the process?

First of all it is important that this proposal is handled and understood fully by the Kurdish side, the Turkish government and the peoples in the region. The proposal by Öcalan is not a tactical but a strategical approach which requires a change in the general mentality. He proposes the replacement of the present division and conflict among peoples with peace and living together. His perspective will eliminate all policies on the Middle East where there currently exists a cruel conflict and bloodshed, mainly in Syria and Iraq, while on the other hand international powers are developing policies over these contradictions. It proposes shaping the Middle East by means of coming up with a solution to the Kurdish question and achieving peace among the peoples in Turkey. His perspective is as a matter of fact a kind of presentation of his long-standing philosophical understanding and it is the single frame that can enable Turkey to make a remarkable move for its existing problems.

What about the withdrawal of armed forces from Turkish territory? It is said that it is time for Kurds to give political struggle following the ending of armed struggle.

This plan involves three stages, the first of which is the ceasefire and withdrawal. As we have stated earlier, the Parliament should also fulfill its responsibilities while we are implementing ours. What we want is not a constitutional arrangement but the establishment of a parliamentary commission to make decisions on the peace process. The parliament's involvement in the process will also mean the involvement of people and political parties so that the present AKP-oriented narrow approach towards the process can be removed.

The solution process should also be based on legal ground in consideration of the fact that all steps that have been taken in the scope of talks so far are illegal according to Turkish laws, such as the BDP-DTK delegation's visit to Kandil and the state's delegation's meeting with Öcalan. Both processes of Imralı talks and withdrawal need to have a legal basis as this may otherwise be cause for a deadlock in the process.

The time of withdrawal is also related with the time of the government. Seasonal conditions are yet not proper for the withdrawal for which we have started preparations, but without a legal frame. There is a need for the establishment of a monitoring commission and a commission of wise people to answer a number of unanswered questions such as what will happen after the withdrawal and return to villages.

Can you detail the call Öcalan made to everyone for re-building of the law of brotherhood based on freedom and equality?

There is a need for a new constitution to guarantee democracy and equal rights for all peoples and minorities in Turkey. This move requires a rooted change which will also come up with a solution to the Kurdish question and enable a constitutional form for the rights, organization and identity of peoples.

ANF
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Prisoners on hunger strikes for books

The administration of Tekirdağ F Type Prison No 1 imposed a book restriction on inmates on 15 January 2013 which allowed them to have only ten books in their own library and three in the prison's library. The book ban, according to which prisoners have to send their other books out of the prison within two months, is expected to be put into effect tomorrow during the regular monthly search.  

Following the rejection of the objection prisoners raised to the judicature of execution against the restriction,  inmates said they would not obey the ban which they commented as an inhuman practice. Prison officers therewith raided the wards and seized the books of prisoners who were also assaulted during the raid.

In a statement on the ban, the lawyers called for support and solidarity with prisoners and called on all lawyers to gather in front of the prison as of morning on Friday. The indefinite-irreversible hunger strike of PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) prisoners is still going on.

The Law Office of the Oppressed stated that prisoners had demanded urgent help and solidarity against any probable operation targeting them. The Office called on all democratic institutions to display solidarity with prisoners.

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Demirtaş: Roboski report unacceptable

Speaking at the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) parliamentary group meeting, co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş said that the report of the Parliamentary Sub-Commission investigating Roboski massacre was mainly designed to spread propaganda for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Demirtaş criticized the commission for failing to conduct a more particular investigation.

Demirtaş remarked that the report was unacceptable before laws, justice and conscience and served for nothing but being a part of the crime. He pointed out that the AKP majority in the commission led to the re-preparation of the report regardless of all the criticism it received and the statement of opposition BDP deputy Ertuğrul Kürkçü presented.

Demirtaş underlined that Roboski massacre was not an incident that could be slid over by the Parliament or any other authority. BDP co-chair stated that the Commission should display a more ethical attitude and shed light on the truth to make a contribution to the advancing process of talks with Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and the Turkish state. The result of the report will show the government's approach towards the process, he added.

Demirtaş pointed out that the Turkish state asked for an apology from Israel and other countries while denying an apology to its people. Noting that it was important for the state to make an apology to relieve the public conscience in time of talks for a new process, Demirtaş said BDP would not forget the massacre nor let it be forgotten.

Referring to recent developments in the process of talks for a solution to the Kurdish question, Demirtaş said Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan's message indicated the possibility for all peoples to build a new life together. “As the living symbols and representatives of these lands, we should stop seeing each other as enemies”, he added.

ANF