ISTANBUL - Istanbul Peace Mothers Initiative members evaluated the meeting of the DEM Party İmralı delegation with Abdullah Öcalan and emphasized, “If all parties are sincere like Mr. Öcalan, peace will come.” 

 

The isolation of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan in Imrali Type F High Security Prison continues. On December 28, the DEM Party delegation to İmralı held a meeting with Abdullah Öcalan. After the meeting, Abdullah Öcalan's 7-point message on the Kurdish issue continues to be discussed in the public. 

 

Members of the Peace Mothers Initiative made evaluations on the meeting with Abdullah Öcalan and the solution discussions. 

 

Bedia Gökgüz stated that there has been no change in Abdullah Öcalan's stance for peace and said, “There is no problem between the society. However, media organs close to the government still use the 'language of war'. Our aim is to bring honorable peace and freedom to Turkey. The government is not sincere in their peace discourse. If they are sincere like Mr. Ocalan, there will be peace. Erdoğan is now standing aside and Bahçeli is talking. If it comes to Erdoğan's account, he will say 'peace is good', but if this process fails, Erdoğan will say 'I didn't do it, Bahçeli did it'. They say peace but they continue with massacres. They massacred journalists and did not even allow the bodies to be brought to Turkey for burial. This shows that the war continues. How will peace come in this way? One of the obstacles to peace is those who benefit from the war. If they didn't prevent the mothers of soldiers and the mothers of guerrillas from coming together, there would be no need for Bahçeli or Erdoğan for peace. But they will not allow this. Because they benefit from this war.”

 

Emphasizing that the war must end, Bedia Gökuz said, “Neither Turks nor Kurds benefit from this war. Both sides are burning on both sides. Thousands of young people have lost their lives until today. Many journalists have been murdered. We said peace until the end. Kurds never wanted war. Kurds fought only to protect themselves. We will continue to say peace as long as we are alive.” 

 

'WE ARE READY TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY'

 

Fatma Yılmaz said that they will visit many political parties and non-governmental organizations for a solution. Underlining the need to release Abdullah Öcalan and all prisoners, Fatma Yılmaz called for an end to the attacks on North and East Syria by Turkey and the SNA. Fatma Yılmaz said, “On the one hand they say peace, on the other hand they appoint trustees. We visited the Istanbul Bar Association the other day. If the CHP and AKP accept our visit request, we will visit them too. We express our demand for peace everywhere we go. We are ready to take any responsibility for peace. We visit all institutions."  

 

Noting that no problem in the world has ever been solved by war, Sabiha Bozan said, “There has been war in our land for nearly 50 years. Mr. Öcalan once said that if he was given the opportunity, he could end the war and get the guerrillas out of Turkey. However, this opportunity was not provided. But neither Mr. Öcalan nor the Peace Mothers have ever given up hope for peace. The economy has plummeted because of the war. Both the Kurdish and Turkish people have paid a great price for all these years. We say enough is enough now so that even greater prices are not paid. Sincerity is very important. We need to speak the language of peace. Bahçeli cannot make these calls independently of Erdoğan. Today peace is as important for Rojava as it is for us. Therefore, stop the language of war. Therefore, our call is to the government and other political parties. Everyone should support for peace.” 

 

MA / Melik Çelik