DEM Party MP Cengiz Çandar said that despite public support for the ongoing peace process in Turkey being at 70 %, the trust rate is lower due to a lack of information.
Speaking to pro-Kurdish Rudaw TV, Çandar emphasized that the process must be socialized in order to succeed and that the release of former HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş, who has been imprisoned since November 2016, is critical to the credibility of the process.
He said that this would enable irreversible progress and move the process toward a peaceful resolution.
Çandar reiterated that if peace is the goal of the ongoing process, then one of the most symbolic figures, Demirtaş, must be freed.
He added that the Kurdish issue has its own unique dynamics and that models such as the Philippines cannot be used as examples.
Çandar also stated that he did not believe the slowdown in the process was linked to developments in Kurdish-controlled northeast Syria. He emphasized that the success of the process in Turkey would have a positive impact on Kurdish-controlled parts of Syria, but that problems in northeast Syria should not be used as an excuse for setbacks in Turkey.
CALL FROM CoE
Meanwhile, the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has once more called on Turkey to implement European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rulings and immediately release Demirtaş.
At its 1537th meeting held September 15–17, the Committee reviewed Turkey’s compliance with ECtHR judgments in Demirtaş’s case and related cases. It reiterated that Demirtaş and other opposition lawmakers were detained without sufficient evidence in politically motivated trials that violated their rights to freedom of expression, political representation, and liberty.
The Committee expressed “great concern” that Turkey’s Constitutional Court has still not examined the applicants’ complaints. It also warned that any continuation of detention in the same context would further breach Turkey’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Beyond Demirtaş’s case, the Committee criticized Turkey’s continued use of prosecutions and detention orders against opposition politicians and mayors, urging Ankara to adopt legal and institutional safeguards to protect parliamentary immunity, pluralism, and political debate.
The Committee will revisit Demirtaş’s case in December and broader systemic issues in March 2026.
