Former Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş, who is on trial in the Kobanê Case held by Ankara 22nd High Criminal Court in Sincan Prison Campus, completed his defense on the merits today. Responding to various allegations against him, Demirtaş stated that the views that are the subject of accusations cannot be subject to trial and that they should be evaluated within the scope of political freedom.

Radical democracy must be our indispensable principle

Demirtaş quoted many thinkers and said that politics should be free from violence. Referring to Turkish-Kurdish relations, Demirtaş said: "Modernity harbors violence. Politics is commanding from top to bottom. There is violence in this politics. In order for politics to be free from violence, it must be democratized. What is the trauma that leads to violence in Turkish and Kurdish relations? This is what I have been talking about for days. Violence turns into mutual trauma. A politician who condemns violence without eliminating this trauma is a hypocrite and a political defrauder.”

The Kurdish politician further stated the following:

“Politics has to democratize itself. While we should be the best in this regard, we also have our shortcomings. The issue is this; if political parties, while doing politics on behalf of the people, miss the people for whom they are doing politics and position themselves as commanding from above, democracy ends there. Imagine, we are ordinary people before the election, we make an election, and as soon as we are elected, we cease to be the people. Yesterday we were the people, today we are rulers of the people. A thought like this develops; ‘since I am elected, I am different from him, I am superior.’ What is our suggestion? It is very difficult to heal these traumas when direct democracy is not established in the parties among the people. Radical democracy must be our indispensable principle.

All political parties should see this as their most serious problem. Today everyone, including socialists and communists, uses a banking app. Political parties can make this their own practice for democracy. They can work on such an application and ask all decisions to the members. Party members should be able to directly enter and watch the PM (Party Assembly) meeting. If there is going to be a big rally, ask the people, and you will get the result in two hours. Why are the people not being asked? Because they see politics as their business. Politics is now a specialized job. According to it, the public does not know. What the people don't know would not be politics, it would be a fuzzy area, illegitimate things. The democratization of politics is important in solving the Kurdish question and eliminating mistakes. We have to implement full democracy everywhere. The authority belongs to the people. If we are slaughtering democracy, there is a problem here. There is a moral decadence on social media etc. Applications for such parties and NGOs can be alternative social media channels.

The state should take the first step

The weapons need to be silenced and deactivated. The first step here should be taken by the state in power. Once the state has taken this step, it is up to politicians to follow it up with confidence. This is what we have done, and it has been made a subject of accusation. What is important here is democratization and education. The first step is possible with morality and virtue. You become virtuous knowingly.

Free thought is important for solving problems

Free thinking is important for the resolution of problems. How much the brain can think free of limitations is debatable. But at least one can be aware. How many walls do we hit even when we just think! Free thinking and being a free human are very important. The education curriculum is also very important in solving the Kurdish question. Since no problem can be solved with this education curriculum, the Kurdish question cannot be solved either.

No problem can be solved without political morality. We now have a universal definition of virtue. These definitions can vary from country to country and from person to person. This creates conflict. That's why we need to create a universal virtuousness and goodness. There is no goodness without action, without words. In the context of this case, our actions and words are only a letter written for today and the future. What we say may not be heard in today's state of madness.

We defended great humanity

In many of our cities, which were once cities of resistance and honor, the fact that children are being dragged into prostitution and drugs is not the responsibility of the people but of the politicians who have buried their heads in the sand. Our identity and national rights alone do not make us human. Of course, we will defend our identity and national rights, but we also have to live morally virtuous lives. Otherwise, when the day comes, we will turn to ashes in the garish culture of capitalism. This case is an attack on human values. That is why we have defended human beings and great humanity. We hope that the letters we send from these small cells will reach our children. We wish that our Kurdish and Turkish children can live together in peace. We have not been able to achieve this for a century.”

Solution proposals

Demirtaş listed the following 7 proposals for the solution of the Kurdish question:

1- An end to the armed struggle must be ensured through negotiations with the interlocutors. Legal arrangements must be made to achieve fast, effective and permanent results.

2- All legal and administrative obstacles to democratic politics must be removed; freedom of demonstration, strike, march, rally, organization and expression must be brought in line with universal standards.

3- The final place of a solution to the Kurdish question is the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. In this respect, all political parties are parties to the solution. The main goal must be to solve not only the Kurdish question but all social problems with a new, libertarian, civilian constitution.

4- The acknowledgment of Kurds as a people, the free use of their mother tongue in all social areas, the preservation and development of their history and culture, their organization with their own identity, and the recognition of their right to self-government must be constitutionally guaranteed.

5- It must be ensured that the suffering and crimes of the past are investigated, and the truth is faced.

6- The imposition of official ideology and official history must be abandoned, and the state must be reorganized with a scientific, objective history and democratic republic model. There must be a transition to critical pedagogical and scientific education.

7- Criminal cases that have arisen as a result of the Kurdish question must be dropped. The Anti-Terror Law (TMK) must be abolished, and all political prisoners must be released.

Demirtaş then stated the following: "The issues I have mentioned are being discussed outside and will be discussed. If the discussion of all of these issues is ensured, every problem in Turkey, the Kurdish question, can be solved peacefully through political methods. I hope that this trial will be instrumental to this. A solution to the Kurdish question will give a breath of fresh air to the whole of Turkey.

What is taken from the pockets and tables of 84 million people will be spent on investment and development, not on war, blood and tears. By taking the Kurds with it, the Republic of Turkey will strengthen its regional peace mission. All Kurds, especially the millions of Kurds living in Syria, Iraq and Iran, will strengthen Turkey's democracy and economy. Above all, there will be no more deaths in Turkey and the deaths of young people will not break the hearts of mothers and fathers. Polarization will be off the agenda, and co-existence in a more peaceful Turkey will turn into an honorable and virtuous life for everyone.

We would give up our lives for peace

Our call is primarily to our Turkish brothers and sisters: Edirne, Izmir, Samsun, Adana, Adana, Kırşehir and most of all, Ankara. We Kurds are in favor of living together in 81 provinces. We only want respect for our language, our culture, our political will, and political security. These are our most natural, basic human rights as a people. If the Turkish people see themselves as brothers and sisters, they should defend the rights of the Kurdish people more strongly and willingly than we do. We must now resolve our problems of identity, belief and sect hand in hand and wage a united struggle against poverty and unemployment. The real class struggle is the struggle for labor and bread. Until today we have tried to carry out both struggles intertwined, but if the problems based on national identity and belief are solved, the class struggle can be carried out more strongly.

Appeal to the left socialist forces in Turkey

This is why we appeal to the left socialist forces of Turkey: we wish them to contribute to a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question. Our party, the DEM Party, must also be self-confident and take initiative in achieving peace. It must use its competence and will to the fullest for a peaceful solution. We, the Kurdish people, have been seeking a solution for 150 years and have paid a heavy price for it. This case is one of them. As we come towards the end of this trial, I would like to say once again with all my heart; we would even give up our lives if the price we have paid would lead to peace. I hope that everyone learns the right lessons from all these events and returns to negotiations and the table. We will thus have achieved the peace we promised to our people.”

Lastly, Demirtaş thanked everyone who showed solidarity with them, saying: "We will meet on free days. Either struggle or struggle. Long live the struggle for freedom. Either success or success.”

The hearing will continue tomorrow with the defense of Demirtaş's lawyers.