Ahmet Türk: Dialogue with Öcalan needed for a democratic Turkey

Prominent Kurdish politician Ahmet Turk bolsters HDP’s "Justice for All" campaign, saying "If we desire a just and democratic Turkey, we need to create a dialogue with Öcalan".

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) on Monday launched the "Justice for All" campaign that will last for 4 months.

Kurdish politician Ahmet Türk, who participated in the announcement event of the campaign, stated that there is a political understanding that wants to silence Kurds, democrats, intellectuals and socialists.

Emphasizing that everyone should be organized against the monist politics that suppress the opposition and society, Türk continued:

“The HDP, together with the forces of democracy, tries to pursue a policy that is based on the core values of democracy. This campaign is, in a way, an expression of that. When you divide the peoples, when you terrorize the Kurds, you will completely destroy democracy in this country. All people will pay the bill for this. In order to show how wrong this is, we see that it is inevitable to seek a new search for politics, to work on putting together the forces of democracy. This is what is intended to be done with this campaign."

'JUSTICE IS A MUST FOR EVERYONE'

Pointing out that a fair and equal approach should be shown for all cultures, identities and differences, Türk said:

"We cannot ensure justice in Turkey by demanding it only for certain groups. In other words, an environment must be prepared in order for all humane demands to be met.

If you do not internalize democracy and if you do not internalize that Kurds and other identities have the rights to enjoy, you cannot ensure justice, nor can you make democracy permanent. So it is justice for all. We need to see that justice and equality are indispensable not only for Kurds or only Turks, but for all people living in this country."

'IF ISOLATION IS REMOVED, THE COUNTRY WILL BE DEMOCRATIZED'

Referring to the isolation imposed on Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan, Türk said:

“Isolation means the usurpation of a right, of justice. This isolation is applied to all prisoners. Abdullah Öcalan is an important actor today. This actor has an important role for peace and democracy. Actually, the state and the government know this. If we desire a just and democratic Turkey, we need to create a dialogue with Öcalan. The first step of this is to remove these isolation policies on politicians. Even families cannot meet their relatives in prisons. We experienced the same thing in prisons during the September 12 regime in the 1980's. We saw the results of those isolation policies. I believe it is not right to repeat this mistake today."