ANKARA – Drawing attention to the public support for Abdullah Öcalan in the Parliamentary Commission, Peace Mothers asked: “On what basis will the guerrillas come back to Turkey?”

 

Peace Mothers spoke at the 5th meeting for the “Commission on National Solidarity, Fraternity and Democracy” established in the Parliament for the solution of the Kurdish issue. Referring to the rights violations they have experienced and the stories of their children, the mothers emphasised that the commission should meet with Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Ocalan. 

 

Peace Mother Turkiye Bozkurt stated that the Kurdish people trust Ocalan and stressed that Ocalan is the real interlocutor of the solution. Describing the experiences of her daughter, Türkiye Bozkurt said: "My daughter was taken into custody in Diyarbakır when she was 14 years old. We didn't hear from her for 27 days, and her lawyer was Meral Danış Beştaş. My daughter was released from prison after 18 months but was arrested again. Now she has been in prison for 27 years. Steps must be taken now. The people do not trust this. No steps have been taken. Kurds, on the other hand, took all the steps. Weapons were burnt, the party was dissolved. It all happened, but no response was given. The political and ill prisoners in prisons, especially Öcalan, should be released."

 

‘THE PEOPLE ARE SUPPORT OCALAN’

 

Peace Mother Rebia Kıran started her speech in Kurdish and continued in Turkish upon warnings. Rebia Kıran said. “Whoever is instrumental in this peace, our respect and greetings are for them. If this promise of peace comes from Mr Ocalan, we, as Peace Mothers, support this peace.”

 

Stating that they want Öcalan to be freed first and foremost, she said: "Let Öcalan come to the Parliament and let us tell our problems to each other. As mothers, we go out among the people and get everyone's opinion. They say to us: 'Where is peace? No step has been taken.' If there were rights, law and justice in this country, children would not go to the mountains. We are here as Peace Mothers. If we gathered the Kurdish people with a call from Mr Öcalan, the people are behind us."

 

'LET THEM COME AND DO POLITICS'

 

Rebia Kıran asked the Commission “On what basis will the guerrillas come to Turkey?” and said: “Will they put them in prison and give them a 30-year sentence? There will be no peace like this. Let them come and do politics. Stop the sharp language of the media. We do not want war in any country. We will want peace until we die. We need peace more than water and bread."

 

In the second session of the meeting, Human Rights Association (IHD) Co-chair Hüseyin Küçükbalaban, IHD Central Executive Committee (MYK) member Vetha Aydın Yüksel, IHD Amed Branch Co-Chair Ercan Yılmaz, and Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed People (Mazlum-Der) Chair Kaya Kartal will speak. Then Mahsum Batı, President of Tahir Elçi Human Rights Foundation, and Erkan Şenses, Vice President of the Foundation, will speak. Finally, Fehmi Bülent Yıldırım, President of the Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief Foundation, and Vahdettin Kayğan, Board Member of the Foundation, will speak.