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MULTIMEDIA
May 27, 2012
 
 
 
 
 
 

CHP’s Kılıçdaroğlu gives green light for general amnesty

CHP parliamentary group deputy chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu spoke with a driver during a visit to Batman on Sunday.
9 March 2010 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL
Republican People’s Party (CHP) parliamentary group deputy chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has said his party would back a general amnesty if that would help settle the long-standing Kurdish question.

“If that would be part of social peace, we are ready to say ‘yes’ to a general amnesty,” he remarked on Sunday, delivering a speech at the southeastern province of Batman. Kılıçdaroğlu, however, did not specify whether the general amnesty would include all convicts in Turkish prisons or solely those accused of terror-related offenses. Hundreds of members of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) are currently in prison charged with terror and separatism.

Kılıçdaroğlu remarked that the Kurdish question could only be settled in the hands of the CHP. “We seek to solve this problem. We will solve it within the boundaries of fraternity. We will solve it by pursuing a strong economic policy. We will solve it by creating a Turkey where anyone can express their ideas freely,” he noted.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) announced its plans to settle the Kurdish question in the summer of 2009 through a comprehensive democratization package. Also called the “Kurdish initiative,” the package aims to grant broader cultural and political freedom to Turkey’s Kurds.

The Kurdish question has existed since the very first years of the republic but turned violent in 1984 with the establishment of the outlawed PKK. More than 40,000 people, including civilians and security forces, have been killed in clashes with terrorists thus far.

In October 2009 the CHP voiced conditional support for the AK Party’s Kurdish initiative. The main opposition party, however, announced that issuing a general amnesty for PKK terrorists constituted a “red line” the party would not be willing to cross.

In his speech Kılıçdaroğlu also criticized the arrest of several mayors of Kurdish-populated cities last year as part of various operations against the Kurdish Democratic Confederation (KCK), an organization believed to be the urban arm of the PKK.

“Like it or not, people voted for them and elected them mayor. If you are to interrogate those mayors, you should summon them for testimony. Why did they handcuff them and allow cameramen to take their photos in this way? Would such a thing happen in any modern country?” he asked.

Thirty-five KCK suspects, including several southeastern mayors, were handcuffed while being taken to police departments in December. Images of the handcuffed detainees caused outrage among some segments of society.

The CHP parliamentary group deputy chairman also voiced opposition to the lengthy prison terms handed down to young children accused of throwing stones at security forces during illegal demonstrations in the Southeast. Dozens of minors have been sentenced to up to 20 years in jail for such charges.

“How on earth can you send a young child to prison just because he carried a half lemon in his pocket? I cannot understand this. These are our children. You cannot accuse them. Instead, you should save them from a mechanism that forces them to throw stones at security forces,” Kılıçdaroğlu added.

Young participants of illegal rallies who are seen throwing stones at police officers are tried as adults under the Counterterrorism Law on the grounds of membership in a terrorist organization.

 
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© Feza Gazetecilik A.Ş. 2007, Ahmet Taner Kışlalı Cad. No: 6, Bahçelievler - İstanbul 34194 Turkey, +90 (212) 454 1454, +90 (212) 454 1497(fax)