13 September 2010
Demirtas: preparations for a new Constitution must start immediately
Peace and Democracy Party's (BDP) leaders says the referendum results as a historic victory for Kurdish people.
Speaking in a press conference in Diyarbakir BDP's co-president Selahattin Demirtas said the boycott campaign against the constitutional referendum was successful and preparations for a new constitution must start immediately.
"People who demands a new and democratic constitutions are the real winners of this referendum" he said.
"The government has to take the autonomy and education in mother language demands seriously".
Demirtas said the Turkish government's politics on Kurdish issue in the near future is now more important.
"The results of the referendum Kurdish people's political response to AKP's repressive policies" he added.
BDP co-president Gultan Kisanak said despite all the pressure and anti-propaganda by the government Kurds managed to show the real will of the people.
"The boycott campaign paved the way to work on a new and democratic constitution" she said.
A prominent Kurdish politician Sirri Sakik said that the Kurds are calling for a new constitution to solve the Kurdish problem and a process for dialogue.
“This means the public is in favor of the government’s policies and that it finds the changes to be made important. This means the public thinks there is a need for a new constitution to solve the current problems.” he said.
The BDP celebrated the referendum results in Diyarbakır with fireworks. In Diyarbakır province, 279,000 people voted, of 849,000 registered voters. In 2007, 52 percent of Diyarbakır voters went to the ballots for the presidency referendum.
In Hakkari, Batman, Şırnak, Diyarbakır, Ağrı, Muş, Ardahan, Kars, Iğdır and Van provinces, most voters did not go to the ballots.
ANF / DIYARBAKIR
ANF NEWS AGENCY
