•    The president of the USA Barack Obama declared to the DTP leader Ahmet Turk during his last visit in Turkey: the victory of the DTP has opened a new perspective for a peaceful and democratic solution to the Kurdish issue.

•    The electoral victory of the DTP has been received with concern by the Turkish Government. The Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek recently defined this victory as a “threat to the nation” and the chief of staff of the Turkish army expressed its concerns about the DTP’s victory. These words are in contrast with the democratic dialectic which should be adopted by a national state aiming to reach the European Union.

•    The PKK has announced a ceasefire until 01 June 2009 in order to create a pacific dialogue among the DTP, the Kurdish civil society and the Turkish government. 

We condemn:

•    The fact that ,in the morning of April 14th, 70 members and national leaders of DTP have been arrested (among them the vice-presidents of the DTP Bayram Altun, Kamuran Yuksel, Derik Mayoral, the candidate in the last local elections Selma Irmak and the exponent of the Central Executive Committee Mazlum Tekdal DTP).
•    The devastation of the Union of Municipalities of the south east of Turkey.
•    The devastation of the local television “Gun TV”.

We believe that:

These arrests have inflicted a heavy blow to the possibility of opening a democratic path in Turkey. The European Left, thanks to its representatives at the European Parliament and in the other institutions of the European Union, will denounce the seriousness of this situation and the unlawfulness of the arrests made.

Moreover, it will request the immediate release of the older politicians of the DTP and its democratically elected representatives.  The European Left will engage to put in action a common strategy to reach this goal.