The Democratic Progress Institute (DPI) held a series of assessment meetings and evaluated its work in Turkey between November 13 and November 20. The DPI team met with the majority of political party leaders over the course of the week, including those from the AK Party, CHP, HDP, Good (IYI) Party, Future (Gelecek) Party, and DEVA Party, as well as journalists, diplomats with current and past experience in the resolution process, and our sponsors. In the context of conflict resolution, the meetings have covered the political climate and the forthcoming elections in Turkey.
Almost all the DPI interviewed did not think that the Kurdish problem could be resolved through military means, and they are also looking for a way to become involved and integrate this issue in their election campaign. The resolution process remains the most crucial item on the election’s agenda since all political parties recognize that they must take into account Kurds’ kingmaker role before and after the election.
In order to gain a more comprehensive picture of the current situation and as part of preparations for 2023 events, the DPI team also met with lawyers, members of civil society, and representatives from Turkey’s arts and cultural sector.
DPI also hosted an interactive seminar with media representatives. The newest element of DPI’s program, interactive seminars, aim to give participants a place to reflect on strategic methods to operationalize the lessons acquired through DPI’s activities, allowing participants to continue fostering dialogue and discussing concrete next steps. Participants in the interactive seminar with media representatives thought about and expressed their vision for peace as well as how peace should be promoted in the media by reflecting on the lessons learnt from the prior peace process experience.
In the coming year, DPI will continue to host assessment meetings and interactive seminars where it will consider the state of affairs in Turkey from a viewpoint of conflict resolution and democratization.
