Turkey's Lawmakers Urge Restart Of Talks İn Kurdish İssue

Deputies from both opposition and ruling parties have urged a resumption of the peace process through dialogue amid renewed clashes in the southeast, with one Republican People's Party (CHP) MP saying "low-intensity warfare is continuing" in the region.

CHP Deputy Chairman Sezgin Tanrıkulu called on parties on Dec. 21 to "open a new way in parliament" for dialogue instead of clashes. Turkey cannot solve the Kurdish problem with either ditches or tanks, he said, calling for a third way.

The CHP is ready for dialogue for the resumption of talks, Tanrıkulu said, calling for the start of talks in parliament.

Ruling Justice and Development (AKP) deputy Orhan Miroğlu also warned that the fight against terrorism was not possible with a lack of democracy. Speaking at a press conference in parliament on Dec. 21, Miroğlu said they favored a "national consensus in parliament."

"We want a discussion in parliament and [support a] stance of all our political parties against terror and violence with a national consensus, rather than with symbolic, daily moves" Miroğlu said.

The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), meanwhile, called for efforts that would bring "normal life" back to the areas affected by the sieges.

"The solution is never evacuation and depopulation of these cities. The solution is creating the environment for a return to normal life" Ayhan Bilgen, a spokesperson for the HDP, said at a press conference on Dec. 21.

"The spokespersons for the government are saying we have been 'legitimizing' ditches. Ditch diggers do not need our discourse for legitimization" Bilgen said.

CHP warns of 'fraternity in danger'

Leading members of the CHP drew attention to the sense of "emotional disengagement" felt by Kurdish people over the "low-intensity conflict" in the predominantly Kurdish-populated southeastern province of Diyarbakır, warning that fraternity between the people in the west and the east of the country was "in danger."

Hatay deputy Hilmi Yarayıcı and Istanbul deputy İlhan Cihaner paid a visit to Diyarbakır and its Sur district, the scene of violent clashes recently, with the consent of their party's leader, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

"Low-intensity warfare is proceeding there" Yarayıcı told daily Hürriyet on Dec. 21. "The fraternity of the west and the east has been jeopardized."

While in Diyarbakır, the CHP deputies held meetings with Diyarbakır Bar Association Deputy President Ahmet Özmen, Diyarbakır Co-Mayor Gültan Kışanak and Diyarbakır Gov. Hüseyin Aksoy as well as executives from the Diyarbakır branch of the Human Rights Association (İHD), the Southeast Journalists Association and Diyarbakır Chamber of Commerce and Industry and will draft a report to be shared with the CHP headquarters based upon the meetings and observations.

"Previously, clashes were taking place in mountains and rural areas. Now, we see with sadness that it is being turned into urban warfare. Identifying it as a low-intensity warfare is appropriate. There is need to quell it before it turns into a more intense conflict" Yarayıcı said. - Ankara