DIYARBAKIR, Turkey- The leader of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said on Tuesday that his is the only party that can solve the Kurdish question in Turkey through respect for human rights and democracy.
Kılıçdaroğlu made these comments at a press conference in Diyarbakir (Amed) on Tuesday saying, “CHP has a project that can solve all the issues and heal the wounds.”
“We are going to solve the issues within the framework of human rights, freedom and democracy,” he said. “We have a number of proposals for the parliament that can find solutions. Problems can be solved if they are dealt with rationally.” he added.
The CHP declared an initiative this month, calling for an opening up to the country’s Kurds and aimed at winning greater popularity among them and attracting more Kurdish voters in the next general election.
Dozens of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) members including MPs and mayors have been detained by the Turkish police on charges of connection with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and spreading propaganda for the group.
The CHP has formed a delegation comprising Kurdish MPs and experts on the Kurdish question and toured Turkey’s Kurdish regions to listen to concerns and demands and collect information. It has also formed a consultation body in its main headquarters in Ankara to develop the idea.
CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu recently visited the town of Sivas in northern (Turkish) Kurdistan, explaining the economic aspects of his party’s initiative to open up to Kurds. He has stated that his party will pay attention to the Gap Project and some other big projects, investing more than $365 million in reconstructing northern (Turkish) Kurdistan by 2030.
The Kurds have made it clear to the CHP that they can no longer endure war. They have now lost hope in the country’s pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), and do not trust the Justice and Development Party (AK). They take the HDP and AKP to be the cause of the problems the country is suffering from, with their rivalry causing damage and destruction to Kurdish towns.
