2017

The Final Resolution of the 14th Annual EUTCC Conference

The Annual International Conference on the EU, Turkey and the Kurds was hosted by the EU Turkey
Civic Commission (EUTCC) in cooperation with the GUE/NGL Group, the Greens-European Free
Alliance and the Groups of the Free Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. The conference was
successfully held on 6 and 7 December 2017 in the European Parliament in Brussels.

The EUTCC endorses the vision THE DEMOCRATIC CONFEDERAL MODEL for a just future for the Kurdish people and calls upon their friends and supporters to endorse the new vision.

  1. The EUTCC calls upon the European institutions, the EU member states, the UN, His Holiness Pope Francis I, and the United States to urge the Turkish government to resume the peace process with the representatives of the Kurdish people. This should be preceded by the release of Abdullah Öcalan and all other political prisoners and the
    lifting of all restrictions on political parties and individuals.
  2. The EUTCC calls upon the European Union and the US to remove the PKK from the list of terrorist organisations, thus opening the way for the PKK and Abdullah Öcalan as legitimate representatives of the Kurdish people to participate in a peaceful political settlement. The EUTCC notes that Nelson Mandela and the ANC were listed as terrorist organisations by the United States, which hampered the political settlement in South Africa.
  3. The EUTCC calls upon Germany, and all other European governments to remove all restrictions on political parties and symbols associated with the Kurdish struggle and allow freedom of expression in accordance with European human rights obligations.
  4. The EUTCC calls upon the European Union, the United States and UN to engage with the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (DFNS) as a crucial step in paving the way for a future democratic Syria. This would greatly aid and help to solve the horrific Syrian civil war by giving the people of DFNS their legitimate representation within Syria.
  5. The EUTCC calls upon the US, Russia, the EU and the UN to include the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (DFNS) in the Geneva talks as a legitimate actor in Syria.
  6. The EUTCC calls upon Turkey to immediately release all democratically elected
    HDP MPs, mayors and politicians and end its assault against freedom of the press and academic freedom. This would allow all HDP politicians, including the party’s cochairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksedag, to resume their responsibilities as democratic elected representatives.
  7. The EUTCC commends the progress made in the Kurdish women’s struggle for democracy, freedom, gender equality and ecological sustainability and strongly supports its continuation.
    The European Parliament, 8 December 2017