Kılıçdaroğlu backs peace process, sets out four conditions
RastinewsKemal Kılıçdaroğlu, installed as CHP chairman by a court ruling, voiced support for the peace process and put forward a four-point proposal.
Kılıçdaroğlu said: "One, the verifiable disarmament and dissolution of the terrorist organization. Two, democratic and legal reforms covering all of Turkey's citizens. Three, a regional security arrangement covering the future of the linked armed structures in Iraq and Syria. And four, a sovereignty strategy that will limit outside powers' intervention through proxy structures. These four dimensions must be taken into account at every stage."
Kılıçdaroğlu returned to the CHP chairmanship after the party's 38th Ordinary Congress was struck down under an absolute nullity ruling. He addressed the peace process at party headquarters.
Highlights from Kılıçdaroğlu's remarks:
"We supported the first peace process back in 2013 too, in order to overcome this problem. We told them: don't do this behind closed doors, bring it to parliament — we pointed to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey as the address for this. After 13 years, they finally came around to our proposal. The Assembly was designated as the address for resolving this issue. A realistic architecture for resolution must include at least four dimensions.
One, the verifiable disarmament and dissolution of the terrorist organization. Two, democratic and legal reforms covering all of Turkey's citizens. Three, a regional security arrangement covering the future of the linked armed structures in Iraq and Syria. And four, a sovereignty strategy that will limit outside powers' intervention through proxy structures. These four dimensions must be taken into account at every stage. Because as Turkey builds its own internal peace, it must also be wary of external political calculations. This is a matter that Turkey must resolve within its own historical and social reality, through its own parliament, its own laws and its own citizens. Turkey must therefore build both its security architecture and its social peace on the basis of law and democracy.
What we are discussing today is not merely a security headline, not merely draft legislation, not merely an organization laying down its arms or dissolving itself. The end of terrorism is a historic opportunity for Turkey. This process can only succeed on the founding principles of the Republic, the democratic legitimacy of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the rule of law, equal citizenship, the unitary structure, productive development and an independent foreign policy will. Because what we are discussing today is the question of what kind of country Turkey will be in the Republic's second century. This fact must not be forgotten. So the real question is this: what kind of Turkey will be built after terrorism ends? Will the silencing of weapons turn into a lasting peace on its own? The party with the vision and the will to achieve that is the Republican People's Party. Everyone should know this. The only party that first identified this problem, first saw it, first prepared a report on it, brought forward proposals for its resolution and withstood every criticism is the Republican People's Party. No one should forget this fact. Because we are the party that founded this country. We are its architect, the Republican People's Party. We are a party that knows how to solve its problems and produce rational policies.
We call this process the crowning of the republic with democracy. Crowning the republic with democracy means uniting security and freedom in a common space, without subordinating security to law, and without pitting freedom against security. It means taking different social identities out of the realm of conflict and placing them under a shared guarantee.
This is not only a matter of democracy and law. It is also vital for Turkey's security and foreign policy. Without resolving this issue, it will be very difficult for Turkey to become a strong regional actor. At this point, we are setting out a principled framework. The end of terrorism and the unitary structure of the state are our red lines.
Our call is clear. Every stage of the process must be carried out with parliament at its center. The framework law must be the product of clear legal principles. As the party that founded this country, we know our responsibility. A resolution within the framework I have laid out will bring peace to our country and our region, and it will bring relief to Turkey.
Source: T24