ISTANBUL - Stating that an important area for the democratisation of Turkey has been opened, Prof. Dr. Sevtap Yokuş said that legal guarantees and an inclusive constitution are important for the success of the process: "Raising hope depends on the efforts of all of us."

 

The discussions that started after Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan's call on 27 February continue. After the call, the PKK declared a ceasefire and announced that it had ended its activities. Despite Abdullah Öcalan's call and the steps taken by the PKK, the government and the state have not yet taken any concrete steps.

 

Abdullah Öcalan, who wanted the talks and negotiations to take place on the floor of the parliament, proposed the establishment of a commission. Then Turkish Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chair Devlet Bahçeli also called for the establishment of a commission in the Parliament. During this period, the Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party İmralı Delegation met with both the Speaker of the Parliament Numan Kurtulmuş and the ruling and opposition parties for the establishment of the commission.

 

 

Professor Dr Sevtap Yokuş, who teaches in the Department of Constitutional Law at Altınbaş University in Istanbul, made evaluations on the constitutional solution of the Kurdish issue.

 

'LEGAL ASSURANCE IS A MUST'

 

Sevtap Yokuş stated that legal guarantees are extremely important at this stage of the process and emphasised that the PKK's decision to end the armed struggle at the 12th Congress should be "crowned" with legal guarantees. 

 

Sevtap Yokuş said: "The most important thing is constitutional guarantees, but the constitution is an area where one should be a little more cautious because of the division and polarisation in Turkey. Before that, steps can be taken much more easily through legislation. In order for this process to be completed, some amendments need to be made to certain laws, and laws that do not exist need to be added. As a lawyer, I say that this de facto situation will not be enough. It is necessary to provide a legal guarantee. The easiest way to do this is to make the process permanent through laws."

 

'PARLIAMENT HAS AN IMPORTANT DUTY ON THE ANTI-TERROR LAW'

 

Stating that the process can only be secured through legal means, Sevtap Yokuş said that amendments should be made to the "Law on Execution of Sentences and Anti-Terror Law (TMK)". Sevtap Yokuş stated that the process can be progressed with the establishment of security provisions for the employees and the regulations to be made on many issues, and said that it is a troubling situation to proceed with the Anti-Terror Law while using the discourse of "terrorism will end". 

 

Sevtap Yokuş said that whether the Anti-Terror Law is needed or not is a controversial issue and underlined that the Parliament has an important duty in this regard. "There are already many provisions in the Penal Code. There may be some additional regulations. Of course, this is more about legislative technique, but these laws need to be overhauled. In fact, there is a need for the Parliament to weed out, scan and overhaul, so to speak, the laws and legal regulations of the conflict period.  In other words, there is a need to eliminate regulations that will make it difficult in the new period," she said. 

 

'AN IMPORTANT SPACE HAS BEEN OPENED FOR DEMOCRATISATION'

 

"If the parliament works very well, it will actually prepare a very good ground for the process," said Sevtap Yokuş and added: "Otherwise it will remain in the air. This is an extremely valuable period for the democratisation of Turkey. A space has been opened to ensure the rule of law. This should be utilised very well. It is an extremely important process in terms of raising the demands for democracy by both the government, the opposition and civil society organisations."

 

Referring to the call for the establishment of a commission in the Parliament, Sevtap Yokuş said that Turkey has experience in this regard. Reminding the past dialogue process: "On the one hand, while all political parties were working on the new constitution and a constitutional reconciliation commission was established in the Parliament, on the other hand, the civil society was focused on the solution process and discussions on the new constitution were continuing. Turkey has an accumulation of experience on this issue and this accumulation should be utilised very well. In the new period, it would be beneficial for both civil society and politics to review the previous experience and update it with its positive aspects. Provided that all these are made specific to today, the process will be much easier today. Because, unlike before, today we have already reached a stage and an important step towards disarmament has been taken. The only thing that needs to be done now is to complete this step with laws, civil society activities and democratic steps."

 

'RAISING HOPE DEPENDS ON THE EFFORTS OF ALL OF US'

 

Sevtap Yokuş stated that the constitution is very important and concluded: "The beginning of the consitution is still very ideological and has an essence that excludes Kurds. It needs to be transformed into an inclusive consitution. Maybe at the beginning, the opposition and other segments of society can agree on the basic principles and a new constitution can be drafted in line with those principles. Perhaps, conducting a discussion on the constitution in the first place may make the process more difficult. It would be useful to proceed a little more cautiously, again through legal guarantees, but step by step." 

 

Sevtap Yokuş stressed that the work carried out for peace is important. She added: "It is necessary to discuss and explain. Because this time, unlike the other times, there is a difficulty and we have problems with its socialisation. Because everyone has a kind of insecurity due to previous experience. There are too many doubts. Breaking down all these doubts, raising hope and turning the process in a more positive direction almost depends on the efforts of each and every one of us."

 

MA / Yeşim Tükel