Basque Left: New party is a totally new experience
Basque Left: New party is a totally new experience
The second international conference on peace processes and conflict resolution, opens in Venice today. Kurds, Basques and Irish politicians will meet in the Italian city to discuss and exchange experiences on their own peace processes and search for peace.
For the BDP (Peace and Democracy Party), vice president Demir Celik and mayor of Semdinli Sedat Tore, have arrived in Venice. Mayor of Diyarbakir, Osman Baydemir who has been prevented from traveling abroad by the Turkish authorities has sent a video message to the conference which will be broadcast on Saturday morning.
The Basque Independent Left is represented by lawyer Jone Goirizelaia (also lawyer for jailed former Batasuna spokesperson Arnaldo Otegi), mayor of Hernani Marian Beitialarrangoitia and former mayor of Pasajes (and Udalbiltza, Basque municipalities council) Juan Carlos Alduntzin.
Sinn Fein is represented by former mayor of Belfast and North Assembly deputy Alex Maskey. Maskey have landed in Venice from Madrid where on Wednesday the new Basque party Sortu has been launched and officially registered.
Speaking to ANF, lawyer Jone Goirizelaia underlined that the new party, Sortu, will represent "a totally new experience. Indeed members of Sortu - says Goirizelaia - refer to a new organisational model, but also to a new way of dealing with the political issues which we will be facing. The new party aims to break from the past, from an old way of doing politics. This - says Goirizelaia - goes together with the thinking by the Independent Left as to the exclusive use of political and democratic ways. This is the way forward - added the Basque lawyer - and the tools to be used on this new path are social mobilisation, institutional politics and the work with other parties".
Dealing with the issue of the refusal of ETA violence by the Independent Left (Izquierda Abertzale), Goirizelaia told ANF that the "Independent Left has began over a year ago a strategical debate in which it was analysing the best path to follow to achieve our political targets. Our aim - says Goirizelaia - is the change in the social model. And this new social model should be realised in an independent state. The left has analysed the situation in the Basque Country - adds Goirizelaia - as well as in Europe. We have analysed the social situation as well and we came to the conclusion that the methods and practices which could have been useful once, nowadays are no longer useful. Therefore, new methods, new ways. For this reason the Independent Left has accepted Senator Mitchell's Principles which explicitly referred to the refusal of violent ways to achieve political targets. And this includes the refusal of ETA violence as well".
The conference in Venice will start this afternoon and will continue on Saturday.
This morning at 12.30 the mayors and politicians will be welcomed by members of the city of Venice's government at a reception to be held in the City Hall.
For the BDP (Peace and Democracy Party), vice president Demir Celik and mayor of Semdinli Sedat Tore, have arrived in Venice. Mayor of Diyarbakir, Osman Baydemir who has been prevented from traveling abroad by the Turkish authorities has sent a video message to the conference which will be broadcast on Saturday morning.
The Basque Independent Left is represented by lawyer Jone Goirizelaia (also lawyer for jailed former Batasuna spokesperson Arnaldo Otegi), mayor of Hernani Marian Beitialarrangoitia and former mayor of Pasajes (and Udalbiltza, Basque municipalities council) Juan Carlos Alduntzin.
Sinn Fein is represented by former mayor of Belfast and North Assembly deputy Alex Maskey. Maskey have landed in Venice from Madrid where on Wednesday the new Basque party Sortu has been launched and officially registered.
Speaking to ANF, lawyer Jone Goirizelaia underlined that the new party, Sortu, will represent "a totally new experience. Indeed members of Sortu - says Goirizelaia - refer to a new organisational model, but also to a new way of dealing with the political issues which we will be facing. The new party aims to break from the past, from an old way of doing politics. This - says Goirizelaia - goes together with the thinking by the Independent Left as to the exclusive use of political and democratic ways. This is the way forward - added the Basque lawyer - and the tools to be used on this new path are social mobilisation, institutional politics and the work with other parties".
Dealing with the issue of the refusal of ETA violence by the Independent Left (Izquierda Abertzale), Goirizelaia told ANF that the "Independent Left has began over a year ago a strategical debate in which it was analysing the best path to follow to achieve our political targets. Our aim - says Goirizelaia - is the change in the social model. And this new social model should be realised in an independent state. The left has analysed the situation in the Basque Country - adds Goirizelaia - as well as in Europe. We have analysed the social situation as well and we came to the conclusion that the methods and practices which could have been useful once, nowadays are no longer useful. Therefore, new methods, new ways. For this reason the Independent Left has accepted Senator Mitchell's Principles which explicitly referred to the refusal of violent ways to achieve political targets. And this includes the refusal of ETA violence as well".
The conference in Venice will start this afternoon and will continue on Saturday.
This morning at 12.30 the mayors and politicians will be welcomed by members of the city of Venice's government at a reception to be held in the City Hall.
