Turkey has been tackling with the Kurdish issue since the foundation of the Republican regime. Efforts to resolve this issue, which was predominantly marked by armed conflict in the last 25 years, always focused on public order oriented policies. However, such policies further complicated the matter let alone resolving it. When it was understood that the Kurdish issue cannot be resolved through merely a security oriented approach, the political government embarked on a process of seeking other solutions. The process that we are currently debating and which was referred to initially as the “Kurdish Opening” and later as the “Democratic Opening” should be assessed in this perspective. This is a valuable and significant process as it launches among wide segments of the society a debate on the legal, freedom and justice dimension of the issue.

It is possible to assert that the Kurdish issue has two dimensions. It is, on one hand, an issue of democracy, and an issue of justice, on the other. Therefore, all efforts to seek a solution should aim at reinforcing democracy and providing justice for all. In order to reinforce democracy and eliminate injustices, however, there are issues to be taken up in priority in both the constitutional and legal platform:

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