WAN - Rojhat Özgökçe from Lawyers for Freedom Association (ÖHD) emphasised the need for a constitutional arrangement on democratic integration, which Abdullah Öcalan frequently emphasises. 

 

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, evaluating Turkey's failure to take steps against the European Court of Human Rights' (ECtHR) judgement on the violation of the "right to hope" of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan, gave Turkey an additional 9-month deadline to make legal arrangements. The Committee pointed out that the National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission established in the Parliament can make proposals for the necessary legal amendments.

 

 

Lawyer Rojhat Özgökçe underlined that Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan's 27 February call for "Peace and Democratic Society" had a wide resonance all over the world and stated that the basic conditions for peace should be discussed. Stating that the Kurdish freedom movement fulfilled all its responsibilities with this call and the steps taken afterwards, Özgökçe said PKK followed the call and dissolved itself. 

 

He added: "However, as in all examples of conflict-solution processes in the world, the negotiation process is a bit turbulent. The approaches and demands of the parties clarify where this process will lead. There were responsibilities to be fulfilled by the state or the other party to the solution. At this point, the state decided to establish a commission. The commission was established within the framework of the parliament and certain work is being done, but there is a process that is moving a little slowly."

 

Pointing to the steps to be taken, Özgökçe said: "The legal regulation titles of the negotiation process are clear.  Legal arrangements have already been put forward by the owner of the call. The construction of a democratic society is actually not something that Mr Öcalan has expressed recently. At the end of the 1980s, at the beginning of the 1990s, in 1994, and again in 1998, Turkey has continuously and dynamically put forward its dynamic solution power and will for the construction of a democratic society in a way to include all the rights of the Kurdistan geography in the Middle East, the geographical area where Kurds live."

 

Özgökçe underlined that in the process of building a democratic society, steps such as constitutional regulation, local governments and execution regulation should be regulated in the dimension of positive law. Özgökçe drew attention to the monist nation understanding of the codes that constitute the founding codes of the state in Turkey and said that this understanding ignored all other peoples. 

 

'RIGHT TO HOPE' SHOULD BE TAKEN UNDER LEGAL GUARANTEE'

 

Özgökçe also touched upon the decision on the "right to hope" and underlined that the "right to hope" was discussed incorrectly in Turkey and that the "right to hope" should be understood correctly and legally guaranteed. Özgökçe stated that the "right to hope" is not an issue that can be negotiated, it is a right that has been postponed for year. "In conflict-solution processes, chief negotiators act freely. The conditions for Mr Öcalan to be free must be created so that the conditions are equalised. If the democratic construction of this community begins in Turkey, it will also affect the four nation states where Kurds live densely," he said. 

 

Pointing out that the state has not taken a concrete and satisfactory step so far, Özgökçe said that although Abdullah Öcalan has been declared as the chief negotiator by the society and the Kurdish movement and this has been confirmed by Bahçeli's statements, his conditions have not been 

 

THE NECESSITY OF CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE 

 

Reminding that Turkey is governed by a coup d'état constitution, Özgökçe stated that the constitution should be amended in accordance with the spirit of the Peace and Democratic Society Process. Özgökçe concluded: "In its current form, the constitution is the biggest obstacle to the integration of other nations that are the founders of Turkey. The constitutional arrangement should be put on the agenda as soon as possible, discussed and emerged as a new social contract. What is meant by democratic integration is that not only Kurds but also Arabs, Circassians, and all other peoples living in Turkey will find themselves in a constitutional arrangement that will take away the sense of alienation from the state. The right to education in the mother tongue must be guaranteed. However, there is still no legal arrangement for this because the binding constitution is the biggest obstacle." 

 

MA / Ozlem Yacan