CHP leader voices support for 'terror-free' Türkiye
VAN
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel has voiced support for efforts to end terrorism in Türkiye after PKK convened a congress as part of its anticipated dissolution process.
"We say yes to a terror-free Türkiye," Özel said on May 10 at a rally in the eastern province of Van.
His comments come amid rare developments in the decades-long Kurdish issue. A renewed dialogue with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan led him to urge the terror group on Feb. 27 to lay down arms and dissolve itself.
In response, PKK announced a ceasefire on March 1 and later convened a congress to make what it described as “historic decisions.”
"We have supported every sincere step taken for the end of terror and the arrival of peace that is not aimed at deception or bargaining, and we will continue to do so," Özel said. "We are those who wholeheartedly defend the end of tears."
Calling for transparency in the process, Özel urged that peace efforts be rooted in social consensus and conducted within the parliamentary system.
“We expect legal steps to be taken together to correct all kinds of bad, wrong and incomplete practices that do not make Kurds feel equal,” he said.
The rally was part of the CHP’s ongoing campaign against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the party’s presidential candidate. The CHP has been holding two rallies a week to protest his arrest and to call for early elections.
Özel also condemned the dismissal of Van Mayor Abdullah Zeydan and his replacement by the city’s governor, Ozan Balcı, following a prison sentence on terrorism-related charges.
"In the squares, we are demanding not only the freedom of Mr. Ekrem and the Republican People's Party members, but also the immediate release of all political prisoners, regardless of their political views," he said.
A message from İmamoğlu, read during the rally, echoed those concerns.
"The fate of Istanbul and Van is the same. Those who plot against the will of the people all over Türkiye are representatives of the same dark mind," he said.
