The latest meeting of the Wise People Commission brought the relationship between the Gezi events and the resolution process onto the agenda. The meeting was held at Dolmabahçe on June 26, 2013. Commission member Celalettin Can tried to convey to then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the significance that the Gezi resistance carried for the peace process and democratization. Erdoğan cut him off at that point. According to Can’s account, Erdoğan said, “This has nothing to do with the peace process; let’s not bring it up.” When Can insisted, “It does,” Erdoğan again replied, “No, it doesn’t,” but Can was able to voice his views.
Can argued that the reaction to a central government decision concerning a park in Istanbul demonstrated the urgency of the Charter of Local Self-Government in resolving the Kurdish question. He said that over the past month the concern “Is state violence in the East spreading to the squares of the West?” had emerged, and that doubts about the government’s stance on peace had grown. The Kurds experienced these concerns more deeply. Noting that they had acted cautiously, Can recalled that Erdoğan had thanked the Kurds at his group meeting. In Can’s view, Gezi showed that democratization steps had to encompass not only the Kurds but all of society, above all the Alevis. Emphasizing that the disproportionate police response had opened space for anti-democratic structures, Can stated that a large majority of the groups clashing at Gezi were in fact the segments most directly supporting a resolution of the Kurdish question.
Background
People is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: we have published 2 stories featuring this name in the last 90 days; the most recent is dated September 28, 2026.