Marta Sömek

 

ISTANBUL - HDP Group Deputy Chair Meral Danış Beştaş stated that most of the budget in Turkey is devoted to war and said: ‘’We are witnessing how an atmosphere where the prices of bullets are asked affects the economy. We will create the people’s budget by giving what’s people’s to the people. When the negotiation atmosphere is established, it will not be necessary to budget for the war and the society will not live with the threat of life.’’

 

While the economic policies of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, which have been going on for years, impoverish the society, the supporters are getting richer. On the other hand, the taxes collected from the people are not equally distributed. Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which criticizes these policies of the government at every opportunity, has started ‘’Budget Meetings’’ across the country for the budget discussions that will take place at the end of the year in order to listen to the demands of the people for an equal budget distribution and bring them to the parliament. The HDP met with many segments and received many views that the people are getting poorer day by day.

 

HDP Group Deputy Chair Meral Danış Beştaş made evaluations to our agency regarding the meetings held and the purpose of the campaign.

 

‘Budget is being prepared behind closed doors’

 

Meral said that the budget discussions are one of the most important issues that the parliament should undertake. She stated that in democratic societies, the following questions were asked about where the budget collected by the people’s taxes was spent, such as ‘’Where is this money going? To protect nature? To prevent violence against women? To avoid inequality?’’. Emphasizing the need to find answers to these questions, Meral emphasized that there is no democratic government because they do not live in a democratic society.

 

‘AKP is preparing the budget for itself and its supporters’

 

Noting that they started the talks in four provinces, Meral continued: ‘’The AKP prepares the budget behind closed doors for itself, its supporters, war and unearned income, and brings it to the General Assembly of the Parliament. As HDP, we argue that this is absolutely not true, the demands of the people should be included in this budget and the needs should be met with this budget. For this, we hold budget meetings across Turkey. In this context, we will initially hold these meetings in four provinces in Ağrı, Istanbul, Mardin and Ankara. We will also collect demands from other provinces. Our ecology, economy and labor commissions are engaged in intense activity. As a parliamentary group, we continue our work.”

 

‘They are pursuing a policy of war, not peace’

 

Stating that the government is pursuing war in the country with its policies against Kurds, women and nature, Meral said: ‘’In the coming days, we will search for the answer to the question, ‘How should a gender-responsive budget be?’ As women, we will hold a workshop on this issue in Ankara. They pursue a policy of war, not peace. It is not shared equally in the budget, as there is sense of rule based on power and the power itself, rather than an atmosphere of peace inside and outside. Meral said that in a society where an atmosphere of peace is created, the necessary budget will be allocated for the disabled, children, youth, women and nature, and continued: ‘’We are fighting for this and we will achieve it. We will create the people’s budget by giving what’s people’s to the people.’’

 

‘Isolation is blocking many solutions in Turkey’

 

Meral noted that heavy isolation policies are being implemented all over Turkey, especially on PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been held in Imralı F Type High Security Closed Prison for 22 years. Meral said: ‘’The isolation in Imralı is aimed at eliminating the possibility of peace. It is said that the isolation issue is the Kurdish people’s problem, but isolation is a political issue that affects the whole country from Istanbul to Izmir, from Izmir to Kayseri, from Kayseri to Trabzon’’. Stating that the isolation has blocked many solutions in Turkey, Meral also said that the main solution to all problems is the establishment of a democratic atmosphere.

 

‘With negotiation, problems can be discussed freely’

 

Pointing out that problems can be discussed freely if there is a negotiation with Imralı, Meral said: ‘’As in 2013-2015, if there is a negotiation with Imralı, all the problems of the society will be discussed freely. When the negotiation atmosphere is established, it will not be necessary to budget for the war and the society will not live with the threat of life. A country’s economy is about how democratic it is or not. If we are a democratic country, everyone will be able to express their demands freely.’’

 

‘The purpose of the isolation is to silence the Kurdish people!’

 

Emphasizing that the isolation imposed on PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan is aimed at silencing the Kurdish people, Meral said: ‘’The aim is to prevent the democratic solution that will come from there and to suppress the voice of peace. When we look at the policies implemented, we see how the war policy is related to isolation. We are witnessing how an atmosphere where bullet prices are asked affects the economy.’’