Peace Meetings To Announce Non-Violent Solution Is Possible

“Turkey Is Meeting For Peace! Democratic Solution For The Kurdish Problem” meeting, arranged by the Turkish Peace Assembly, will meet in İstanbul, Diyarbakır and Adana on August 31, Sunday.

The September 1 Peace Day meetings defend the position that “All problems, including the Kurdish problem, can be solved with methods appropriate to the human rights and the principle of democracy and by predicating them on the idea of full equality of and freedom for all cultures and peoples.”

“The Kurdish problem has not been and will not be solved by violence”

One of the Turkish Peace Assembly member Necmiye Alpay, with whom bianet met, calls all those who “say peace instead of war, life instead of death, brotherhood instead of hostility” to the meeting and explains its primary purpose as “defending peace against the armed struggle of both sides, whether Kurdish and Turkish.”

“The recent clashes in the past one month and the violent atmosphere we have been experiencing actually show how much we need peace. Therefore, these meetings are even more meaningful; we defend peace exactly because the Kurdish problem have not been and will not be solved by violence. It is the principle of being against all forms of violence, regardless of who uses it, which forms the meaning of these peace meetings.”

Alpay says mainly the left wing political parties, feminists, the human rights defenders and mostly Kurds will come to the meeting that will take place in Kadıköy, Istanbul. She adds that peace is everyone’s concern and it will be very pleasing to see a wide participation.

“Society is hoping for peace in spite of government’s attitudes”

One of the Peace Assembly initiators Murat Çelikkan, too, says that the interest in the meetings arranged in three provinces indicates that there is a pro-peace and egalitarian expectation in the society in spite of the attitudes of the political parties and the government:

“It is necessary to let know the decision makers and public that it is possible to use equality, brotherhood and peace rather than violence in the Kurdish problem and it is not very difficult to implement this demand. The Peace meeting reminds everyone one more time that the Kurdish problem needs to be solved by peaceful means.” (CU/TK/TB)