Call for Peace from Batman

Subsequent to a call for peace from Diyarbakır, 83 non-governmental organizations from Batman in south-eastern Anatolia urged the PKK to put an end to their armed actions and demanded to stop state and military operations as well.

The president of the bar association, lawyer Yusuf Tanırseven, read out the joint statement at a press release held in front of the Human Rights Monument on Tuesday (29 June). "The irrecoverable wounds caused by the violence and inflicted on innocent and poor families make a solution even more difficult. At the same time, the existing violence is continually pleasing all sections profiting from the financial system, vote collectors and weapon dealers", Tanırseven said.

He indicated that a system that ignores the right to life is not wanted. "With the responsibility we feel for the deaths of young Turks and Kurds we share the deep grief of their families. We want the violence to be brought to an end", he stated.

Violence no means to defend your rights

"Violence should not be used as a method to fight for your rights, implementations that evoke liquidation should be eliminated such as the detention of Kurdish politicians, children as victims of the Anti-Terror Law and detentions of members of the peace groups. The democratic initiative should be re-established with a solution that is not temporary or based on prerequisites. In other words, we publicly announce that a solution for the Kurdish question has to come from mutual dialogue, democracy, the rule of law and within the frame of human rights. We invite all sections of society to take the responsibility and remain calm", Tanırseven continued.

On Monday (28 June), 98 organizations from the province of Diyarbakır issued a similar call. The militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) had intensified their attacks since 1 June and said that a unilateral ceasefire will not happen without the government's taking concrete steps. (BP/EÜ)