{"id":13756,"date":"2025-06-18T08:42:58","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T08:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freedomforabdullahocalan.org\/en\/?p=13756"},"modified":"2025-06-18T08:43:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T08:43:00","slug":"selahattin-demirtas-we-will-live-together-in-freedom-and-equality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freedomocalansyria.com\/en\/?p=13756","title":{"rendered":"Selahattin Demirta\u015f: We will live together in freedom and equality"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reforms, an end to political justice, and shared responsibility in the face of the crises in Turkey and the Middle East\u2014Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirta\u015f has issued an appeal from prison: \u201cWhat is needed is not bravado, but courage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Selahattin Demirta\u015f, a Kurdish politician and former co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) who has been imprisoned in Turkey since 2016, has issued a written statement on current geopolitical and domestic political developments. The statement, published under the title \u201cNot pathos, but courage is needed\u201d on his X account, contains key demands for a democratic new beginning, a credible peace process, and the building of resilience across society as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With regard to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, Demirta\u015f called for a return to the negotiating table. While criticizing the Iranian regime’s authoritarian actions against its own people, he made it unmistakably clear that \u201cno political or ideological pretext can justify military intervention by external actors. The path to stability does not lie in bombing, but in dialogue.\u201d He called for prioritizing a diplomatic solution instead of engaging in destructive geopolitical power politics that could further destabilize the entire Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Demirta\u015f referred to Abdullah \u00d6calan’s February 27 \u201cCall for Peace and a Democratic Society\u201d and to the decision of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to disband and end armed struggle, emphasizing the historic opportunity for a peaceful transition: \u201cA responsible disarmament process must be conducted with care, determination, and foresight. All parties involved are called upon to avoid provocations and contribute to a balanced and rapid process of de-escalation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another focus of Demirta\u015f\u2019s statement was judicial policy in Turkey. He criticized the ongoing imprisonment of elected mayors and other elected officials and called for their immediate release and a fair trial: “The systematic politicization of the judiciary not only undermines public trust, but also prevents any serious social pacification. Prosecution must be carried out by objective, independent, and apolitical authorities.” He called on the government to take concrete steps to strengthen the rule of law within the country and warned against further social polarization in the shadow of international crises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Demirta\u015f appealed to political actors not to engage in risky and self-serving maneuvers that could lead the country into new instability: \u201cIn this sensitive phase, no one should pursue adventurous or destructive strategies. It is our duty to defend a secular, just, and equal understanding of the state, even if this requires great personal sacrifice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, he called on all political forces to take their responsibilities seriously and work together to find solutions: \u201cOur internal challenges can only be overcome through mutual trust, respect, and a spirit of brotherhood\u2014any other path will lead to disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Demirta\u015f proposed convening a cross-party crisis conference in view of the foreign and domestic political crisis. This, he said, should be initiated by the president and held in parliament with all the leaders of the parties represented in parliament in order to develop a joint foreign and domestic policy strategy: \u201cWhat is needed is a coordinated political course that can be supported by all democratic forces\u2014in the short, medium, and long term.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Demirta\u015f concluded by expressing his hope for peaceful coexistence among all peoples living in Turkey, addressing society as a whole: \u201cThese storms will pass. And we, the ancient peoples of this land, will live together on this land, free and equal. The Turkey we defend is a just, peaceful, and united one<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reforms, an end to political justice, and shared responsibility in the face of the crises in Turkey and the Middle East\u2014Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirta\u015f has issued an appeal from prison: \u201cWhat is needed is not bravado, but courage.\u201d Selahattin Demirta\u015f, a Kurdish politician and former co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) who has been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13757,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/freedomocalansyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/333-1.jpg?fit=990%2C556&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freedomocalansyria.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freedomocalansyria.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freedomocalansyria.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freedomocalansyria.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freedomocalansyria.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13756"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/freedomocalansyria.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13758,"href":"https:\/\/freedomocalansyria.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13756\/revisions\/13758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freedomocalansyria.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freedomocalansyria.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freedomocalansyria.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freedomocalansyria.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}