President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently met face-to-face with the People’s Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) delegation for the first time in 13 years. It was reported that the DEM Party presented a 13-point demand list to President Erdogan during this meeting. A DEM Party spokesperson denied a list had been presented to Erdogan, but confirmed that the 13 demands are indeed DEM Party’s agenda for achieving ethnic peace in Turkey.
The alleged prior conditions for DEM Party participation in the writing of a new Constitution are as follows:
- Lift Ocalan’s isolation.
- Guarantee freedom of communication.
- Enact a special law for the disarmament process of the PKK.
- Guarantee the principle of equal and free citizenship through legislation.
- Prepare a Democratic Transformation and Peace Bill.
- Release ill prisoners.
- Establish a specially authorized commission in Parliament for the peace process.
- The Speaker of the Parliament should consult all parties and ensure consensus in writing of new legislation.
- End the practice of appointing trustees (kayyum) to municipalities.
- Release imprisoned mayors, ensure they are tried without detention, and reinstate them to office.
- Bring forward legislative proposals on the “right to hope”, for PKK leader Ocalan, meaning he may be retried to lighten his life sentence.
- Remove obstacles to freedom of association.
- Amend the current Anti-Terror Law, which considers peaceful advocacy as an act of terror.
- Ensure full implementation of decisions by the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court—which would ensure the release of another Kurdish leader, Mr Selahaddin Demirtas.
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In response to wide press coverage of the “13 demands”, DEM Party spokesperson Aysel Dogan issued a statement.
On Thursday, April 10, President Erdogan welcomed the DEM Party’s Imrali delegation, which included MPs Sirri Sureyya Onder and Pervin Buldan.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan receives DEM Party Van Representative Pervin Buldan and Istanbul Representative Sırrı Sureyya Onder at the Presidential Complex
The meeting lasted approximately 1 hour and 25 minutes and was attended by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Deputy Chairman Efkan Ala and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin.
This meeting was the first direct interaction between President Erdogan and the DEM Party in 13 years. The Imrali delegation claimed to have presented a 13-point demand list during the meeting.
However, some news outlets referred to a so-called ’13-Point Demand List.’ These points are not new demands presented during the meeting; they are issues the DEM Party has previously shared with the public. No official demand list was presented to President Erdogan.
It is not accurate to list ongoing public discussions and topics, which have been debated for months, and present them as a formal ‘Demand List’ from our delegation--DEM Party spokesperson Aysegul Dogan”.
To put this controversy in context, most experts believe that by engaging with Kurds, Erdogan intends to kill two birds with one stone. The Peace Deal will be enshrined in a new Constitution, which incidentally grant Erdogan eligibility for a third run at the presidency.
In related news, Erdogan’s right hand man Mr Efgan Ala told the press that he expects PKK to announce the convention of a final congress to abolish itself “within 20 days”.
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Press sources
Erdogan with Pervin Buldan and Sukru Sureyya Onder
