The European Forum for Freedom and Peace (EFFP), which started its work with a conference in Berlin, Germany in 2018, aims to bring the struggle for peace to an international dimension with the aim of bringing the parties to the conflict together on the basis of dialogue. The Forum, which strengthened its work with international peace conferences organized in Eindhoven, Cologne and Berlin during the year, recently published a declaration titled “We want to hope and enlarge the possibility of peace” signed by 273 artists, academics, journalists and politicians.

 

Journalist Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, one of the signatories of the text, commented on the work of the EFFP, Turkey's policy on the Kurdish issue and developments. 

 

'PEACE IS NOT POSSIBLE WITHOUT ENDING ISOLATION'

 

Stating that the conferences organized by EFFP are not only a platform for discussion, Mavioğlu said that they also draw attention to the violations of rights and social destruction caused by conflicts. Noting that their work is a step towards the elimination of the destruction caused by the war and for peace and a democratioc environment, Mavioğlu said that the struggle for peace cannot be sustained only with good intenrions. Concrete steps are inevitable said Mavioğlu and added: “One of the primary conditions for the peace process is the end of the isolation policy in İmralı. Mr. Abdullah Öcalan's meeting with Ömer Öcalan does not mean that the isolation has ended. As long as the isolation against Mr. Abdullah Öcalan continues, it is not possible to take concrete steps towards peace. As a matter of fact, the most important of the statements made after the meeting is the message that the isolation continues.” 

 

'RIGHTS MUST BE SECURED'

 

Pointing out that lessons should be learned from the dialogue process carried out by the state in İmralı between 2013 and 2015, Mavioğlu said that the insecurity of the parties and the continuation of hate speech were among the reasons for the failure of the talks. “The rights of the parties must be secured, the isolation policy must be ended and the peoples must be gathered around the idea of peace and convinced. Only in this way can peace negotiations settle on a healthy ground,” Mavioğlu said. 

 

Stating that another important problem that damages the hopes for the peace process in Turkey is the government's war policies and the continuation of hate speech, Mavioğlu said that hate speech should be abandoned and the rights of the Kurdish people should be recognized. Underlining that the basic rights of the Kurdish people have been usurped for years, Mavioğlu said that fundamental issues such as the mother tongue, self-governance and the release of sick prisoners cannot be negotiated. 

 

'EFFP WORKS FOR LASTING PEACE'

 

Noting that EFFP aims to bring an international dimension to the struggle for peace, Mavioğlu said that it works to report and document the destruction caused by war. Mavioğlu said the following: “We are preparing reports that identify the shortcomings of past peace processes and suggest new ways forward. We are also planning to organize a series of conferences drawing on international experiences. The war affects not only Kurds but all peoples. The main cause of the economic crisis in Turkey is the huge budget spent on the war. Mountains and stones are being bombed with money that should be given to pensioners and minimum wage earners. It is necessary to make more effort to tell the peoples about these realities and to strengthen the struggle for peace. As a forum, we will continue our work to make peace permanent and contribute to it in the process to come.” 

 

MA / Delal Akyüz