Kongreya Civaka Demokratîk Demokratik Toplum Kongresi | |
Abbreviation | DTK KCD |
---|---|
Formation | October 2007 |
Founded at | Diyarbakır |
Type | NGO |
Purpose | Kurdish rights |
Chairman | Berdan Öztürk |
Chairwoman | Leyla Güven |
Website | https://www.kcd-dtk.org/english-2/ |
The Democratic Society Congress ( Turkish: Demokratik Toplum Kongresi, Kurdish: Kongreya Civaka Demokratik) is a pro-Kurdish NGO favouring the implementation of Democratic Confederalism in Turkish politics. [1] Its foundation congress was held on 26–29 October 2007. [1]
It has 2 co-chairs, a chairman and a chairwoman, a general assembly with 501 delegates, an executive council of 21 members and several committees. [1] 40% of the delegates of the general assembly are represented by labour unions, civil society organizations and political parties, 40% are representatives from local assemblies. [2] The congress meets approximately every three months to discuss the resolutions which come from the distinct committees. [3] The DTK has assemblies in several administrative subdivisions like in districts, cities, villages and neighborhoods. [4] For each street in a neighborhood, there should exist a commune. [5] These are then followed by assemblies in their respective neighborhood, town, city or region. [5] Each commune is independent in their decision making process but is still in a relationship with their respective neighborhood council which coordinates the decisions in the different communes. [5] The DTK has an executive committee of 5 members, a coordination council with 13 members and a permanent assembly of 101 delegates. [6] Several committees are formed by the DTK. [6] [1]
On 14 July 2011 it announced its support for Democratic Autonomy after having held an extraordinary congress in Diyarbakır with 850 participants. [7] The DTK is also active in the solution finding process for the Kurdish–Turkish conflict in Turkey [8] and issued a proposal for a political solution in December 2015. [3] According to this proposal it was supported the idea of issuing a new constitution after which Turkey would be structured into several democratic autonomous regions represented in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. [3]
Its members are often prosecuted by the Turkish authorities, [9] and the attendance of events organized by the DTK can be viewed as a reason of prosecution as was the case for Evrensel writer Yusuf Karataş. [10] Also the attendance of a DTK congress as a non member can be viewed as a reason for prosecution according to the DTK. Numerous raids were conducted at the delegates houses that were on the list which was confiscated during a search in October 2018. Also, Leyla Güven, received a demand to resign from the post of co-chair of the DTK by the Turkish authorities. [9] Despite the legal existence of the DTK, membership in the DTK was deemed as an evidence of being a member in a criminal organization in the indictment of the closure case of the pro-Kurdish HDP. [11]
Co-Chairs | Term | |
---|---|---|
Yüksel Genç | Hatip Dicle | 2007–2010 |
Aysel Tuğluk | Ahmet Türk | 2010–2014 |
Selma Irmak | Hatip Dicle | 2014–2016 |
Leyla Güven | Hatip Dicle | 2016–2017 |
Leyla Güven | Berdan Öztürk | 2017 |