The 'Social Peace and Freedom Forum' organized by Amed Metropolitan Municipality continued on its 5th day with various activities. The program, held at Cemil Pasha Mansion, was attended by Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları, Amed (Diyarbakır) Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayors Doğan Hatun and Serra Bucak, along with many participants.

 

Joining the forum online, Ilham Ahmed, Co-Chair of the Foreign Relations Department of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, stated that monist/state ideologies deepen conflicts and lead to economic, political, and social crises. She said that in Syria, Kurds had for years faced the denial of their language, identity, and culture, adding: “It is essential to build a peace in which peoples and faiths can live with their own language, culture, and identity. If these are not recognized, deadlock and new crises will emerge.”

 

Ilham Ahmed noted that Arabization policies had been imposed on Kurds in Syria and stressed that lessons should be drawn from conflicts in the Middle East. She stated:

 

“These mistaken practices have also occurred in Turkey, Iraq, and Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan, Iran). In building peace, lessons must be learned from these practices. Let us build peace together in unity. It is essential to create an environment of peace where everyone can freely live their identity, language, and religion. States that do not accept differences are doomed to fail. Without recognizing local will, centralized systems cannot fully establish peace. The Syrian administration must also recognize society’s demands and avoid policies of denial. One cannot move forward with the mentality of the past; a new mindset and understanding must be built. It has been proven that systems based on denial and destruction are not the solution. Together, we will build an honorable peace and present it as a gift to the peoples of the world.”

 

Speaking afterward, DEM Party Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları said the forum had taken place with broad participation and declared: “The voice of peace was heard from Amed throughout all of Turkey.”

 

Hatimoğulları stated that social peace, freedom, and justice are fundamental elements of democracy, adding that peoples throughout history had succeeded in living together. She said the five-day forum demonstrated that coexistence is possible and that different segments of society shared their views on social peace during the event.

 

Referring to attempts to redesign a new system in the Middle East through war policies, Hatimoğulları noted that the greatest price of wars is paid by peoples and women. She said that while they had previously discussed the abduction of Yazidi women, today Alevi women in Syria are being targeted.

 

Hatimoğulları also touched on the ongoing “Peace and Democratic Society Process” in Turkey, stating that while some steps had been taken, recent obstacles had emerged. She emphasized that the guarantee of peace is the rule of law and said that government-appointed trusteeships must end, European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rulings must be implemented, political prisoners must be released, and Abdullah Öcalan’s status must be recognized.

 

“Without confronting the truth, it is not possible to achieve lasting peace,” Hatimoğulları said. “Peace is not only the solution to the Kurdish question; it means that all peoples and faiths living in Turkey can live on the basis of equal citizenship.”

 

Calling on social groups and democratic forces, Hatimoğulları said peace can be built by coming together on democratic grounds, adding: “Today is the day to grow peace and hope.”

 

Amed Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Doğan Hatun also thanked everyone who contributed to the forum and emphasized the importance of the work carried out over the five days.