A new phase has been taken

Policy Service

There was a new development yesterday regarding the resolution process that the palace regime initiated in parallel with the new design in the Middle East. While the ruling bloc's calls to "convene the PKK congress and dissolve itself" continued, the door to a new phase was opened with the statement made by the PKK.

In a statement released by the PKK, it was announced that the congress was held. The statement stated that the congress was held on May 5-7.

The statement regarding the congress, which was stated to have been held in two different areas due to security reasons, said, “Extensive and detailed information and documents regarding the results of the 12th PKK Congress and the decisions taken will be shared with the public very soon after the results in the two different areas are combined.”

The statement stated that the perspectives and suggestions presented by PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan to the congress were read and evaluated, and that the short report of the PKK Central Committee was also read and discussed at the congress, and that “the 12th PKK Congress also commemorated with respect and gratitude martyr Sırrı Süreyya Önder, who was one of those who contributed most to its preparation.”

It was stated that extensive and detailed information and documents regarding the decisions taken at the congress will be shared with the public very soon after the results in two different areas are combined.

While the DEM Party described this development as a historic threshold, all eyes turned to the ruling party after the statement. It remains unclear what steps the regime will take next.

Speaking after the statement, DEM Party Van Deputy and İmralı Delegation member Pervin Buldan said, "Now the cornerstones of peace will be laid. May it be beneficial for all of us. I wish my president would see the secret."

Noting that they were going through a historic period, Pervin Buldan said, "We know that everyone is eagerly awaiting the date for the PKK to convene its congress. This congress was needed for peace to come to Türkiye and for democracy to be established in Türkiye. In every meeting we had with Mr. Öcalan, he would say that he found this to be of historical importance and important in terms of supporting the peace process it would bring to Türkiye. He would say that this was needed."

TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION ESTABLISHED WITH ÖCALAN

Pervin Buldan noted the following regarding whether PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan attended the congress: "A technical communication was probably provided. I do not want to go into too much detail. Because we have a long way to go. The congress convened, but although there is no full detailed statement, we expect a detailed statement in the coming days. However, this is an important statement in itself. Therefore, I cannot help but remember Sırrı Süreyya Önder. I wish he could have seen it. I wish he could have witnessed these days. He has contributed a lot. I am currently in Adıyaman to offer my condolences to him. We are once again celebrating his soul. We are dedicating Sırrı to our President."

CALL FOR RESPONSIBILITY TO THE GOVERNMENT

Emphasizing that it is time to build a democratic and legal foundation, DEM Party Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları said, “The most important development the country needs will be the construction of a democratic and legal foundation. Today, we are witnessing a new beginning, not an end. We are aware that very historic days await democratic politics.”

On the other hand, the DEM Party Central Executive Board (MYK) also released a statement regarding the PKK's announcement that it had convened its congress. The 8-article statement stated that Turkey was witnessing "one of the most important and critical thresholds" in its recent history. It was emphasized that the PKK dissolving itself was an important step for peace and democratic politics, and it was stated that "Now is the time to put the will to live together and equally before everything else." It was stated that the TBMM also had an important role in the process, and it was noted that the silencing of the guns was the beginning of a new era. The statement ended with the words "We will definitely bring the light of peace and brotherhood to these lands."

Some of the items included in the statement are as follows:

• With the PKK's historic congress decisions, we are one step closer to the horizon of peace after fifty years of conflict. This step is a step towards the re-emergence and development of peace and democratic politics that have been longed for for centuries in the heart of our ancient lands.

• Now is the time to put the will to live together and equally before everything else. It is the time to deeply believe in a democratic society, free politics, and universal law, to work and take steps for democratization. Let no young person fall to the ground in the mountains or in the cities. From now on in this country, let the voice of politics, not denial and weapons, but democratic and social consensus, not anger, but unity and equal life be raised, not separation.

• A new page is being opened on the path to an honorable peace and democratic solution. As the DEM Party, we believe that after this historic turning point, all democratic political institutions, especially the Turkish Grand National Assembly, must take responsibility for the solution of the Kurdish issue and the true democratization of Türkiye.

• At this historic moment, the executive power's fulfillment of its historic responsibility to seize the opportunity to establish Türkiye's democratic future will be a guarantee of peace.

• Today, we carry the weight of a great hope on the one hand, and a deep responsibility imposed by history on the other. This is not an end, but a new beginning. We complete this declaration of will by once again commemorating our beloved companion Sırrı Süreyya Önder, who dedicated his life to peace and the brotherhood of peoples, and whose heart always beat on the side of the oppressed.

“THE ERA OF BLOOD AND HATRED HAS ENDED”

Following the PKK's statement, the first statement from the MHP came from Group Deputy Chairman Celal Adan. Adan said in his social media post, "Our deepest wound has been healed, the era of blood and hatred has ended."

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WE DO NOT SAY THAT THE WEST OF THE COUNTRY SHOULD BE WINTER AND THE EAST SHOULD BE SPRING

DEM Party Istanbul MP ​​and İmralı Delegation member Cengiz Çiçek evaluated the PKK's statements. Çiçek said, "Although it would be insufficient to evaluate the content and the process from now on without looking at the detailed statement to be made later, we can say this firsthand. This decision emerged as a result of Öcalan's call for peace and a democratic society from the perspective of the Kurdish movement."

Çiçek said, “The new period of struggle should be understood in terms of the necessity of moving away from the ground of conflict and violence and onto a legal and political ground. In this respect, it embodies the people’s peace policy as a struggle option against the war policies of the rulers. We think that this process will also proceed in favor of the oppressed peoples. The only addressee of this process is not the government or Kurdish politics. Of course, they are addressees, but we should act without forgetting that we will achieve a healthy result when the society, the organized forces of the society, and the opposition are also party to peace and become political subjects.”

Çiçek also spoke about the contradiction between the new process and the regime that has increased the dose of authoritarianism:

Of course, we cannot say, 'Let the West of the country be winter and the East be spring'. As long as Türkiye's democratic forces define this problem, which has become a regional and global problem, as a democratization problem and include it more in the area of ​​their own struggle for rights and freedoms, the current dichotomy can be overcome. The Kurdish issue should not be isolated from Turkey's struggle for democracy; the opposition and different segments of society speaking out and taking initiative on this issue with more courage will be one of the fundamental factors that positively determine the character of the process. This call is also valuable as a call to exit Türkiye's current crisis-ridden system in favor of the people, a call for democratic transformation and an opportunity.

In other words, this call should also be considered as an obstacle to the construction of anti-democratic regimes. Based on what the June 7 election results have shown, we believe that the struggle of democratic forces in Türkiye will narrow the playing field of all anti-democratic politics and open up much wider areas for oppressed peoples.

We define this process as a process of new political moves and social struggle.

Therefore, we evaluate the process not as a process of victory and defeat but as a historical junction in the struggle for a democratic republic. While understanding certain concerns and criticisms, we also consider various risks as an interval in which we witness the first historical steps of a historical march in which society will insist more on its organized struggle and will take the stage with new forms and new means of struggle. We believe that we can only make this history together with stronger organizations and organized people's struggle.

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AKP-MHP VOTERS DO NOT SUPPORT THE PROCESS

Metropoll Research Company has published a new survey regarding the discussions on the 'resolution process'. In the survey conducted between March 14-21, 2025 with 1186 people in 26 provinces using the CATİ (Computer-Assisted Telephone Survey) method, participants were asked the question ''Do you support the new process being carried out with Abdullah Öcalan?'' According to the survey results; the rate of those who support it was 23.8 percent, while the rate of those who do not support it was 67.7. The answer 'I have no opinion/No answer' was 8.5 percent. According to the results of the survey, AKP and MHP voters, who are partners in the regime, do not support the ongoing process. While 32.1 percent of participants who stated that they were AKP voters supported the process, 57.7 percent stated that they did not support it. On the other hand, it was noted that 36.1 percent of MHP voters supported the process, while 56.9 percent did not support it.

On the other hand, 18.5 percent of DEM Party voters expressed that they were against the process, while 11.4 percent were undecided.

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BUĞRA GÖKCE: “WILL IT ALWAYS GO ON LIKE THIS?”

In the Middle East, where identity politics is most severely manifested, a tension geography is being created that defines one in the order of being “First Muslim, Then Bosnian”, “First Muslim, Then Palestinian” as defined by Amin Maalouf. When this tension is not present, the identity definition listed as religion, nationality defines another spectrum such as worldview, profession, the work one does with faith and even saying “I am human”. This definition can describe freedom with a depth other than being confined to the framework of free thought and religious-national identities.

For the geography we are in, tension has always been generated for this identity politics to be the determining factor. Social fault lines have always been loaded with stress with triggering elements. Thus, while many countries in the West and East, especially Korea, which was behind us in many indicators in the 1960s, were ahead of us by working only with the ideal of modernization - development or "rising to the level of contemporary civilization"; this unique but lonely country could not reach the places it deserved by being burned in the corridors of tensions of identity politics, especially religion/nationality!

That is why we have been saying for years that peace discourse and actions that will end tension are the first steps to take this country forward. If you confine this to identity politics once again, you will place it in a narrow framework that does not include all segments of society that embraces everyone. As the song goes, “It always goes like this!”

How can a process in which the founding party of the country, the main opposition and the opposition that currently represents at least half of society are excluded build peace without any problems? Wouldn't it again be trapped within a grouping by being squeezed into identities and communities?

However, those who want this not to continue like this and want “fights to end without bloodshed” are turning a deaf ear to the cries of those who seek the freedom of the country in the cry of a baby and the prosperity of a large economy in a brotherly greeting. The bright minds and intellects of my country who think and produce are being sentenced to prison. Oppositionists and rivals are being punished with the duty of serving Silivri instead of the homeland.

Doesn't it worry you that instead of a process in which all political representations of the country are openly and transparently discussed and matured, a closed, secret process is being carried out in the parliament, where communication cannot even be established? If we want this not to continue like this, for ministers like our elder brother Sırrı Süreyya, who want peace to be the goal, and for those who are not trapped in "identity politics", don't you think there is a need for a language and unity that will transcend identity politics and embrace everyone who wants a rich and happy Republic of Turkey and works?