DEM Party calls on Turkey to abide by European Convention on Human Rights

ISTANBUL — The Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (Halkların Eşitlik ve Demokrasi Partisi, DEM Party) issued its final statement following the conclusion of a major social initiative titled Paving the Way to Peace, held in the EYÜP SULTAN district of Istanbul. The event was attended by senior party leaders and Turkish political figures.

The initiative outlined a series of urgent steps aimed at promoting peace and democracy in Turkey. Chief among them was a call for the Turkish government to fully comply with the European Convention on Human Rights, reinstate the Istanbul Convention on preventing violence against women, and review both the Anti-Terror Law and the Turkish Penal Code in light of rulings by the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court.

The statement also demanded the repeal of all undemocratic laws, an immediate halt to unlawful directives and practices — including arbitrary arrests and detentions linked to the misuse of the Law on Public Meetings and Demonstrations — and an end to all cross-border military operations.

Further demands included the release of all political prisoners, as well as granting freedom to elderly and sick inmates regardless of their convictions. The party also called for the immediate cessation of politically motivated interventions against municipalities, and for the release of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and other detained municipal officials.

The initiative emphasized the need to restructure the conditions under which Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan can communicate and engage with segments of society, in accordance with human rights principles. It also urged the creation of a legal framework for a democratic solution to the Kurdish issue and called on political leaders, public figures, and the media to abandon inflammatory and adversarial rhetoric.