"Turkey is not getting rid of the official policy it has been pursuing for years and therefore is not able to solve the Kurdish problem," Latif Epozdemir, the secretary general of the Right and Freedom Party (HAK-PAR), told KurdPress in an interview.

He continued: "Undoubtedly, the current Turkey policy is in a great crisis and today the situation of the Kurds is being discussed in international forums and has taken sleep from the Turkish government. Turkish politicians have also realized that they can not continue their policy in this way. They want to get rid of the Kurdish issue.”

Referring to the fact that the Turkish government has not changed its strategy towards the Kurds, Latif Epozdemir said: "Turkish policy has not changed for one hundred years and is behaving in the same old way. This old policy is no longer able to meet the needs of the society.”

He noted: “The essence of politics in Turkey is based on unity and ‘being Turkish’. Politics denies pluralism. There is a famous saying that "Turkey is Turkish and belongs to the Turks".

He stressed: "They do not accept the existence of the Kurds and pursue the policy of assimilation and stand by any means against the legitimate demands of the Kurds and prevent it. Of course, this policy has not yet achieved its goal. However, this problem has not been unresolved and has remained from the past to the present.

Stressing that the policy of denial is no longer applicable today and needs to be changed, he added that the policy of denial is no longer acceptable. This policy must either change or will be changed by the legitimate Kurdish movement.

Referring to former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's remarks about Kurdish rights and paying attention to the Kurdish language in Turkey, the Secretary General of the HAK-PAR said: "Sometimes a number of Turkish officials call for resolving the Kurdish issue. And discuss the protection of the Kurdish language and literature, and some of them even agree with teaching the Kurdish language in schools, but they do not have the power and ability to bring reforms to Turkey. Learning in Kurdish means changing Turkish policies and this is not possible.”

"Undoubtedly, this is good news, but it does not mean that these politicians will be able to fulfill their promises; but making such statements gives a lot of strength to the Kurdish movement to pursue its demands in Turkey more strongly," he said.

Latif Epozdemir pointed out: The Turkish government must accept that there is a problem called Kurdish in Turkey and find a framework to solve it. The issue of Kurds in Turkey is freedom and is not limited to teaching Kurdish; even if Kurdish is taught in schools, it does not mean that the Kurdish issue in Turkey has been resolved.”

He added: "The Kurdish issue in Turkey is the matter of freedom and justice. Today, there are parties, unions and civil society organizations that criticize the official policy of Turkey (Kemalism), but all Turkish politicians agree on one issue, and that is they do not recognize the existence of the Kurds and Turkey Kurdistan. The situation has continued for a hundred years and they do not consider the Kurds as part of the nation.”

The Secretary General of the HAK-PAR stated: "That is why no one believes in the statements and criticisms of Turkish politicians. It is better for Turkish politicians to first change their old policies as they are not useful any longer. This is the important issue. Undoubtedly, all problems are solved in a new way.”

Reporter’s code: 50101