The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), a Kurdish-led party that has united a swath of Turkey's broad left, has proposed a new law in parliament to establish peace and legally guarantee all peace talks regarding the Kurdish question.
The move comes as the Turkish government, having ended peace talks with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) last year, carries out a brutal war on largely Kurdish areas in Turkey.
Named the Societal Peace and Negotiation Law, the proposal states that the recent period of conflict has led to great losses. It requests a full return to negotiations and a process to resolve the question of Turkey's ongoing oppression of its Kurdish minority.
The preamble to the proposed law highlights examples from countries where similar conflicts have been experienced.
Pointing to missed opportunities for peace during the past 30 years of conflict because of the Turkish state's disregard for the fundamental rights of the Kurdish people, the preamble says: “In 2013, [when peace talks began] the hope for peace in Turkey had reached its zenith.”
The preamble also emphasised that the Erdoğan government ended the process in April last year, leading to an intensification of the conflict.
“If politics does not extinguish the fire that is raging on with a full return to the Resolution Process and negotiations then unfortunately the suffering and pain is going to continue,” the preamble reads.
It also says undemocratic laws, such as anti-terror laws and restrictions on electoral representation, should be abolished. The preamble also calls for the removal of nationalist and discriminatory laws. It calls for new regulations regarding Kurdish language rights.
[Compiled from Kurdish Question.]
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