The People's Party for Equality and Democracy (DEM) has announced its strategy for the local elections to be held on 31 March 2024 in Turkey. The timetable was drawn up at a party council program dialogue at the weekend in Ankara. In terms of content, the DEM party's main topics for election are the various crises in Turkey, such as climate, unemployment, women, as well as the Kurdish question and isolation policy. All areas in which local politics also has its own responsibilities.

In a statement the party said: "We live in times of profound economic, political, social, ecological and cultural crises, which are interwoven through global networks. Capitalism imposes violence, poverty and a lack of a future on the peoples of the world. The peoples of the Middle East in particular are facing a major attack and siege. The rulers are still insisting of a nation-state thinking. In order to preserve their existence, they do not shy away from inhumane methods. In this context, we once again condemn Israel's attacks on the Palestinian people and reiterate our call for a democratic solution based on peoples.

In Turkey, violence is the government's only compass to address the numerous problems by sweeping them under the carpet, but also to realize regional imperial ambitions. All social groups that raise their voices against hunger, oppression and coercion are subject to government violence. Regardless of whether they are dying of hunger, demanding their democratic rights or a free and equal life - everyone is at the mercy of oppression and persecution.

In the last days of 2023, we have the firm will and hope to achieve a Democratic Republic that will end this system that has brought misery, pain and death to the peoples. In every phase in which a democratic solution to the Kurdish question is impossible and violence and repression form the basis of all action, political, social, economic and ecological crises arise that make life unbearable. This reality has become the law of Turkey's political history. The denial of the Kurdish question means the denial of a people and its collective rights as well as the question of the status of the Kurds. In the 21st century, there is no longer any path that ignores the collective rights and political will of the Kurdish people.

As isolation deepens, all of Turkey's problems deepen. The absolute isolation and communication ban imposed on Mr. Abdullah Öcalan in Imrali serve to maintain denial. The system of total isolation has become a method used thoroughly by the government and means nothing other than an ideological-political siege that deepens the insolvency of the Kurdish question. As the DEM party, we will continue to intensify our fight until the isolation, which is the last branch on which denying power and state thinking clings, is eliminated. With the decisions that define us and strategic balances that we establish, we will grant the victory of all peoples of Turkey."

Main topics

The topics that were at the forefront of discussions at the meeting were as follows:

"* Local elections in 2024 will have serious political implications in the region and Turkey. We are aware of our responsibility in these elections.

* Turkey's problems can only be solved through negotiations. That is why we value dialogue and negotiations between political parties. We are ready to negotiate with all forces whose core principles include local democracy, democratic consensus, free politics, universal human rights and women's liberation.

* With our ideological-political stance and political language, we resemble neither the status quo nor the line of the restoration. The third way, which will interweave the values of democracy, peace, freedom and justice, is our strategic baseline. The DEM party sees itself as a party of struggle and negotiations. This is not just a way to achieve electoral success. This is also a path to the democratic solution to the Kurdish question, the path of defending the will of the people in the face of trustees, the defense of work, food, life and freedom, the path against corruption.

* With the strategy we will pursue in the 2024 local elections, we will reclaim our communities ruled by trustees to once again govern with the will of the people. In addition, we will win in many provinces, districts and cities that we have not run before, and we will protect the people from corruption, criminal gangs and those who deny our identity. To achieve this goal, we will enter into collaborations and form alliances.

* In western Turkey we see it as a priority task to engage with all institutions, organizations, workers, working people, ecologists, women, young people, ethnic and religious groups, political parties, trade unions and professional associations, democratic and conscientious citizens, social actors - and thus all social and political dynamics that promote and maintain the principle of the city - meet, negotiate and weave a common struggle that will prepare the ground for an urban consensus.

* As a component of the Alliance for Work and Freedom, we will play our role to strengthen the understanding of local politics that is characterized by the grassroots democratic, ecological and women's liberation line - compared to the mentality that local politics is the gateway to corruption and nepotism. Our commitment is to a shared, collective and alternative understanding of local politics.

* Our approach to participate in the local elections with our own candidates and lists, as any independent political party would, was reinforced by the discussions at our party council meeting. Our meeting emphasized that inclusive, participatory, transparent and democratic nomination processes with all committees of our party represent an important step in our local election roadmap and underlined the importance of continuing the process in a way that makes it a celebration of democracy.

* We will not allow a single equation to be drawn up that is not in the interest of our people; no one can doubt that or suspect it. On the contrary, with the decisions we will make and the strategic balances we will create, we will win over all the peoples of Turkey!

* The Central Executive Council and the co-chairs of the district and provincial associations are given authority for the local elections to do whatever is necessary in line with our roadmap.

* The will that emerged at the meeting of our party council will not only bring success in the upcoming local elections, but a great victory. If we win, the oppressed, the working people, the marginalized and the ignored people of this country will win and the cities will win. With these feelings and thoughts, we greet the people of Turkey and express our conviction that victory will definitely be ours."