Ex-DEP deputies ponder staring new party

Leyla Zana, one of four members of the DEP who were released from prison in June after serving ten years behind bars after being found guilty of supporting separatism, said that they were thinking of starting a new political party.
Speaking just before she was to enter court for another hearing of the charges originally laid against her a decade ago, Zana said
“We, former MPs once under a political ban and once seen as the boogeymen, sincerely want to serve democracy and peace, she said. “For this reason, we are launching the popular democratic movement.”
Zana said that the basic principles of the new party would be to support Turkey’s bid to join the European Union and achieve a peaceful and democratic solution to Kurdish demands for more cultural and political rights within Turkey’s territorial integrity.
“An overwhelming majority of the Turkish society seems ready for rapid, meaningful and radical change. No political party, whether in power or in opposition, has been able to respond to the demands of the people,” she said.
“The world is changing and Turkey cannot be kept away from this change.”
In Friday’s hearing of the case against the four former deputies, the court decided to put off the next hearing of the trail until mid December.