Abdullah Öcalan: In the next 2 or 3 weeks there will be important talks

HDP MP Önder said that at yesterday’s meeting Öcalan told them there would be significant developments in the process in the coming period, adding: “in this time there will be political delegations and also talks he will have with the state delegation.” Önder said that Öcalan had listed the principles of ‘inclusiveness’, ‘belief in democratic politics’ and ‘peace development’ as key for the Presidential elections. Öcalan had warned Erdoğan, who has threatened the HDP-BDP, saying: “don’t make a war plan”.

HDP co-deputy president and Istanbul MP Sırrı Süreyya Önder told ANF about the meeting with Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan after returning from İmralı island yesterday.

Önder said that Öcalan had used the phrase: “the most important reality is that the process has reached a new phase.” Önder continued: “In the last three weeks in particular there have been increasingly frequent meetings with political delegations – some of which have been reported and some not – attaining a content. This means the question is going beyond the bureaucrats towards a content which it should have, being carried forward and discussed by political delegations. Mr Öcalan has also been affected by the reverberations of this.”

Önder said that for the first time a programme and timetable had been discussed at a meeting between Öcalan and the state delegation, adding: “I think that the questions Mr Öcalan emphasized at the beginning of the process; a legal framework, the removal of obstacles to democratic politics, sick prisoners, the fact the Anti-Terror law has no place in a democratic society, have for the first time begun to be linked to a programme and timetable. We can understand this to some extent from what Beşir Atalay said on Kanal 7. He stressed that the government would strive for a solution with a new programme and timetable. When all these things come together it is easy to understand what Mr Öcalan is alluding to when he says ‘new phase’. What we have not had up to now, and what is now developing, is political delegations beginning to discuss the question politically…”

ÖCALAN AND THE STATE DELEGATION WILL HAVE IMPORTANT MEETINGS

Önder said that Öcalan had told him: “in the next 2 or 3 weeks we will have intensive debate of these subjects. I hope we will make progress.” Önder added: “in this time there will be political delegations and also talks he will have with the state delegation.”

Önder added that Öcalan had raised the request for a Monitoring Body at yesterday’s meeting, saying: “he wants the process to be transparent and open to public scrutiny. He believes that a Monitoring Body should oversee the process in order to reduce problems connected to daily occurrences. He said: ‘I think the government is aware of this’.”

Önder said that Öcalan had said: “The government has made fundamental errors. One of these is that it has constantly hidden behind the pretext of an election, employed delaying tactics and adopted a discriminatory stance lacking political courage. I have told them the process could not be protected in this way, and that the process and peace could only be guaranteed by giving it a legal and political character. I’ve said that otherwise it would become a project that turned into one that would be sabotaged and become weak and worthless. They didn’t take my warning seriously. Do they think we have a narrow understanding of politics? Recently I have made different warnings. History has developed since the 90s in the way I identified. During the process substantial values have emerged. Although there it has been delayed this is promising.”

ALLE ENERGY SHOULD BE DEVOTED TO PROPOSALS AND THE SEARCH FOR WAYS AND METHODS

Önder said that Öcalan had called upon the sides to avoid provoking the process and to act responsibly and sensitively, adding that he had said: “…What I mean by this is not structures or their stances. I don’t by provocation mean the youth in the region or the things the state is doing. Circumstances that get out of control will offer an opportunity to those forces that wish to sabotage the process and therefore both sides must avoid allowing such circumstances to occur. Consequently, instead it is necessary to concentrate on preparing realistic and honest proposals and look for ways and methods to implement them.”

FOT THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS? INCLUSIVENESS, BELIEF IN DEMOKRATIK POLITIKCS AND PEACE…

Öcalan’s views on the Presidential elections are as follows: “It will be useful to discuss the Presidential elections with regard to the system. Our concern is not individuals, but the system itself. And the system will be divided between those who support the project for democracy and peace and those who oppose it. Our candidate will be one who stands for democracy and peace and represents all the downtrodden. I have three principles: inclusiveness, belief in democratic politics and peace.”

CRITISM OF THE MEDIA

Önder said that Öcalan had criticized the attitude of some television programmes and columnists for not taking a serious attitude to the process. He said that Öcalan accused the media of sensationalizing and of engaging in speculation, while appreciating the efforts of some writers who took a positive attitude.

THE KURDS ARE A SAFEGUARD AGAINST THE COUNTRY BEING DIVIDED

Önder said that Öcalan had criticized those who propagandized for division and carried out war-mongering, calling them reactionaries. Öcalan said: “The people of Turkey should know that the only safeguard for co-existence and for the country remaining whole is the will of the Kurds, and they have proved this with their consistency and sincerity on numerous occasions. The Turks should join together around our great peace and not believe this speculation. None of those carrying out politics based on paranoia about division is local. They are all working according to the agenda of international forces.”

DON`T MAKE WAR PLANS

Önder said that Öcalan had commented on Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s threat to the HDP-BDP that “plans B and C would come on the agenda”. Öcalan had warned: “If a plan is to be made it should be done for democracy and for peace. It shouldn’t be for war.”

Firat News Agency – English