DEM Party Official Demands Immediate Release of Demirtaş: “No Democracy Without Political Freedoms”
"DEM Party demands release of Demirtaş & Yüksekdağ, calls political freedom key to Turkey's democratization. As reconciliation commission drafts reforms, observers predict possible September release amid peace process efforts.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Sezai Temelli, Deputy Chair of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) parliamentary group, on Sunday called for the immediate release of prominent Kurdish political figures Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, emphasizing that the democratization of Turkey can only be achieved through political freedom.
Speaking on Sunday, Temelli stated that the Turkish Parliament's reconciliation commission must take decisive and serious steps to end the ongoing detention of political prisoners. He insisted that Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ should be freed without delay and that those forced into exile for political reasons should be allowed to return.
“Democratization in Turkey is only possible through political freedom,” Temelli asserted. “We can no longer proceed with the restrictive frameworks and outdated understandings of democracy. A new legal consciousness must take hold, one that prioritizes democratic solutions to the Kurdish question.”
He stressed that the commission must implement the conditions for a comprehensive legal system and institutional democracy, underlining the necessity of enabling Abdullah Öcalan’s ability to engage in the peace process so it can proceed effectively.
On Saturday, August 2, 2025, Masoud Özer, a political observer and legal expert based in Ankara, told Kurdistan24 that the parliamentary reconciliation commission is currently preparing to reform the laws and constitutional articles that obstruct the peace process. He explained that the commission will submit its proposal to the parliament, which requires 301 votes for approval.
Özer also noted, “I believe Demirtaş will be released next month.”
The remarks underscore renewed momentum within the Turkish parliament to revisit the stalled peace process, as well as mounting internal calls for a fundamental shift in how political dissent and the Kurdish issue are addressed in the country.
