Member of National Solidarity Committee: report-drafting team will meet on January 5 or 6

The “National Solidarity, Brotherhood, and Democracy” Committee formed within the Turkish Parliament has concluded its hearings and meetings. The committee was originally scheduled to complete its work on December 31 of this year, but during its most recent meeting, it decided to extend its mandate for an additional two months.

We conducted an interview with Saruhan Oluç, MP for the Equality and Democracy of Peoples Party and member of the “National Solidarity, Brotherhood, and Democracy” Committee, regarding the extension of the committee’s mandate and the stage its work has reached.

After listening to many parties and figures, and after political parties submitted their reports, the mandate of the National Solidarity, Brotherhood, and Democracy Committee was extended by two months. Is this a sign of progress or another strategy of delay?

Extending the committee’s mandate was necessary. According to the initial timeframe, the committee’s work was supposed to end at the end of this year, but the joint report has not yet been written. Therefore, its mandate was extended. This cannot be considered a strategy of delay; rather, it is a necessity for preparing the joint report.

What will the committee do during these two months?

A team has been selected to draft the joint report, and it will meet on January 5 or 6. Six to seven headings have been identified for preparing the report. Each party will submit its proposals, after which these proposals will be evaluated. The report must not include any assessments related to the past. There are many differences among the parties’ reports, and there are very divergent approaches regarding the solution to the Kurdish issue. While there are some similar points in certain reports, the differences are greater. Nevertheless, a joint report must ultimately be prepared, and it will not be written based on past evaluations.

In the coming weeks, proposals regarding laws that need to be amended or reformed will be presented to parliament, based on the joint report. If the parties agree on the necessary measures in the coming weeks, the likelihood of issuing a joint report will be high. At the Equality and Democracy of Peoples Party, we will make every effort to ensure that this report is issued.

The submitted proposals will be read and evaluated by the Higher Parliamentary Committee, and the relevant parliamentary committees will work on these laws, provided that the parties are able to reach consensus on the necessary measures in the coming weeks.

There is talk about the “right to hope” and the physical freedom of leader Abdullah Ocalan. Kurds and their friends are struggling everywhere for his physical freedom. Will the issue of the right to hope be included on the report’s agenda?

The issue of the right to hope is a separate matter and requires separate evaluation. Following legal amendments and reforms which we refer to as the Peace Law the issue of the right to hope will also be placed on the agenda. Our proposals in this regard are very clear. We base our proposals on the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe. The right to hope is one of the main proposals of the Equality and Democracy of Peoples Party.

ANHA