Turkey Peace Assembly (TBM) held a press conference in Cezayir Assembly Hall in order to call upon AKP to abandon its war concept.

TBM Spokesperson Hakan Tahmaz, TBM Advisory Board members, Armenian intellectual Tatyos Bebek, Kurdish intellectual Turan Sarıtumur, former SHP Minister of Labor and Social Security Ziya Halis, lawyer Nurcan Kaya, former SES Director Sevgi İnce and journalist Murat Çelikkan spoke during the press conference. TBM Advisory Board member Tatyos Bebek made the opening speech of the conference and said that a war began in times of peace where nobody had died over the past two years, and the current situation resembled the period of 1990s.

'TURKEY HAS BECOME A STATE OF EMERGENCY'

TBM Spokesperson Hakan Tahmaz said that the solution process was interrupted after the Dolmabahçe meeting on February 28, 2015, and completely done with after the recent Suruç massacre, armed attacks, and military and political operations. Tahmaz noted that Turkey became a state of emergency and the recent arrests, bans, and deaths became a routine part of daily life.

'ISOLATION MUST END'

Tahmaz read out the urgent steps for peace under three headlines, and said that it was impossible to revitalize the solution process and peace without ending the isolation of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan.

STEPS FOR PEACE

Tarhan listed the urgent steps for peace as the democratization of 6551 Law, also known as the Solution Law, in order to make it more functional, participatory and comprehensive, the establishment of an independent observers’ committee that would function as a third party, and the securing of civil society organizations’ participation in the solution process.

'PEACE, RIGHT NOW'

Former SES director Sevgi İnce reminded that the society was concerned about war prospects, and emphasized the importance of transforming this concern into hopes for peace. İnce noted that society wanted peace right now, and it was everyone’s duty to pressure for peace.

'IT BECAME CLEAR THAT AKP IS NOT SINCERE WITH REGARDS TO PEACE'

Former SHP Minister Ziya Halis noted that it was questionable for a political power that people refused to elect into the government on June 7 to end the negotiations, and emphasized that it became clear that AKP was not sincere with regards to peace.

Lawyer Nurcan Kaya said that the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission was one of the most important steps for securing a ceasefire, and the AKP government could have lowered the election threshold, strengthen local administrations, and allow education in mother tongue instead of restarting the war.

'THOSE WHO MADE MOTHERS CRY HAVE BEEN BURIED IN HISTORY PAGES'

Kurdish intellectual Turan Sarıtemur objected to AKP’s war policies and argued that by repeating its mistakes, AKP would share the fate of those who made mothers cry and got buried in history pages.

Journalist Murat Çelikkan emphasized that peace was indispensable for Turkey, and Erdoğan was ignoring voters’ will for peace by implementing war policies and releasing JİTEM members responsible for state killings in the 1990s from prison. Çelikkan recalled Erdoğan’s statement on HDP, and said that HDP was being targeted because it is the only party that could stop AKP’s war plans.