HDP Co-Chairperson Selahattin Demirtaş has responded to journalists’ questions regarding operations targeting the PKK and ISIS.
Demirtaş’s responses included the following statements:
“Having lost its power to rule as a single party at the general election, the AKP has begun to seek ways to come to power alone. All the operations we have witnessed in the previous days have been ordered by the President’s Palace, and are designed to save the present government.”
“If a coalition cannot be formed, an early election will be required, we will not shy away from that. Yet the AKP is aiming to come to power alone by intimidating the people. We clearly witnessed in Diyadin, Ağrı, that the AKP is reckless enough to send a soldier to death for its own purposes.”
“We will share the pain of all our children”
“We will share the pain of all our children. We will not allow you to kill our children so that your dirty deeds can be covered up. Do not ever imagine that the flags you wrap their coffins in will clean away your dirty deeds.”
“The AKP should not start questioning the HDP before it has held itself accountable for all the cases of corruption that have not been answered. We do not have millions of dollars like those that came out of the shoeboxes discovered in the AKP’s corruption cases. We will not allow you to drag this country into a civil war.”
“This is not the State’s policy, this is the Palace’s policy”
“What we have witnessed is not the outcome of the State’s policy, it is the Palace’s policy. The Palace has its own security force, its own intelligence organization, and its own judiciary, press and social media.”
“Society in Turkey can rest assured that the HDP is here, and we are committed to our duty. Our party will succeed in guiding Turkey out of the AKP’s policy of imposing war.”
“Those who seek to portray themselves as the owners of this land, and us as traitors, should turn around and have a look at the damage they have caused to this country.”
To Bahçeli: “It is the people that establish political parties, and only the people may choose to close them”
Demirtaş also commented on National Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli’s statement demanding that the Supreme Court charge the HDP, which he described as ‘Qandil politicians’.
Demirtaş said: “We are not surprised that politicians of a fascistic conviction have leaped at the chance of joining in with this operation targeting public perception. We have nothing to hide. They should first look at their own foul past. It is the people that establish political parties, and only the people may choose to close them. The MHP’s stance is fascistic, and it merely serves as a crutch for the AKP’s policies.”
