AKP official freed by PKK in N Iraq

VAN / ŞIRNAK - Doğan News Agency

Abducted AKP Gürpınar district chair Tanış returns his home.

Justice and Development Party (AKP) Van Gürpınar district chair Hayrullah Tanış, who was abducted by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Van on July 2, returned home to the village of Ongün in Gürpınar on the morning of Aug. 24, after his release in northern Iraq on Aug. 23.

Tanış said the abductions of AKP politicians and the arrests of Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) members both place restrictions on politics. “If you silence politicians, no one will remain to speak,” Tanış said.

Tanış was released by the PKK in northern Iraq and delivered into the care of the Human Rights Association’s Van Chairman Ömer Işık and Mazlum-Der Van Chairman Fuat Değer. After his release, Tanış traveled to Van via Silopi. The abductions and arrests of politicians silence political expression, Tanış said. “This is often seen in the eastern and southeastern regions of Turkey, and it will continue that way. The political will is hindered. Politicians carry the people’s demands to the authorities. If you silence them, no one will remain to speak. Non-governmental organizations have an important role to play, and I am addressing them: They must observe the seriousness of the issue, and carry it to the relevant authorities.”

The PKK members hosted him as a political authority during the time he spent with them in the mountains, Tanış said. “Of course there were some [difficult] physical conditions. That is to be expected, and I experienced them, but I did not give up.”

Complaint on Şemdinli meet

Meanwhile a market owner in Şırnak’s Siverek district has made a criminal complaint against the BDP deputies who met with outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in the southeastern province of Hakkari’s Şemdinli district. Mahmut Çakır made a criminal complaint at the Siverek Prosecutor’s Office against 10 people, including BDP deputy co-chair Gülten Kışanak and the other deputies, claiming that they supported and emboldened terror and terror propaganda. Çakır told reporters the delegation led by Kışanak had met with militants under the premise of a visit to Bağlar village in Şemdinli.