ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Veteran Kurdish politician Ahmad Turk said on Saturday that the Turkish government has failed to provide information about its plans regarding the ongoing peace process with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), warning that the Kurdish public's trust in the initiative is diminishing due to the lack of concrete steps.
"The Kurdish people have taken significant steps for peace and the brotherhood of peoples, but so far the Turkish government has not given us any response regarding this process. What is the project? What do they want to do? We know nothing," Turk told Rudaw on the sidelines of a conference in Istanbul.
"We want them to inform us about what they have and what they want to do," he added.
Turk, the former co-mayor of Mardin who was later removed from office and replaced by a government-appointed trustee, stressed that resolving the Kurdish issue goes beyond ending armed conflict.
"The Kurdish people are a nation for whom no steps have been taken regarding their identity, language, and culture," he said. "We say Kurds and Turks are brothers, but we do not see the steps of brotherhood."
He warned against placing responsibility for any potential failure of the process on Kurds, saying, "We do not want it to be said once again that the Kurdish people sabotaged this process, but the authorities must know that the people's patience is running out."
Turk's remarks came during a two-day conference in Istanbul titled "Transformation Toward a Democratic Republic in the Second Century," organized by the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) and the Peoples' Democratic Congress (HDK). The gathering has brought together politicians, intellectuals, writers, and human rights activists to discuss prospects for resolving the Kurdish issue and advancing democracy in Turkey.
DEM Party lawmaker and HDK co-spokesperson Meral Danis Bestas said progress on a proposed "framework law" aimed at supporting the peace process has stalled due to a lack of action from authorities.
"This law has been greatly delayed, but this delay is not our responsibility. The authorities are not taking any steps," Bestas said.
She urged Turkish lawmakers to pass the legislation before parliament enters its summer recess, arguing that it would pave the way for democratic politics.
Bestas also called for addressing the issue of political prisoners, saying that democracy cannot be meaningfully discussed while figures such co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag remain imprisoned.
Separately, DEM Party lawmaker Saruhan Oluc said the government has yet to present the party with an official draft of the framework law.
"So far, the authorities have not presented us with any official draft of the framework law," Oluc said.
He noted that the DEM Party had prepared its own proposals based partly on recommendations from jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and had initiated talks with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and other political parties.
"There are some disputed and unclear points, and these are being discussed," Oluc said, adding that further dialogue is needed to finalize the legislation.
Participants at the conference are expected to issue a final declaration calling on Turkish authorities to take bold legal and political steps toward recognizing Kurdish identity and advancing democratization in Turkey.
