Elçi murder must definitely be enlightened: CHP

Rifat Başaran - DİYARBAKIR

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The murder of Tahir Elçi, the head of the Diyarbakır Bar Association, must be enlightened, the leader of the main opposition party has said, vowing they will closely follow the investigation. 

“There should not be an extrajudicial killing in the heart of Diyarbakır. There should not be such a picture. The head of the bar association has been slain and the perpetrators should be found,” Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), told reporters in a visit to Diyarbakır on Dec. 2 to pay his condolences to the family of Elçi. 

“Whoever the perpetrators are, this incident should be enlightened and they should be brought to justice. We will follow this politically,” he said.

Kılıçdaroğlu also advised the acting head of Diyarbakır Bar Association to inform the CHP in the event they face difficulties in investigating the killing of Elçi. 

Elçi was murdered on Nov. 28 while he was making a public statement. Security forces have yet to disclose whether it was an assassination or whether he was killed in a clash between police and militants.

Kılıçdaroğlu expressed his condolences to Elçi’s wife, Türkan Elçi, and paid visits to the Diyarbakır Bar Association and the police headquarters to offer condolences over the killing of two policemen immediately before the lawyer’s killing. The CHP leader’s visit took place under heavy security conditions due to continued tension in the town and its historical Sur district.

“This incident shocked us and all of Turkey,” Kılıçdaroğlu told Türkan Elçi, expressing his deep sorrow over the loss of her husband.

‘We want peace’

Kılıçdaroğlu reiterated that Turkey wanted and needed peace and comfort and that the CHP was ready to do its share to achieve this end. “We should understand each other. We all see and know that separation [in society] causes disaster. We can and should live all together in comfort in this beautiful country. We should create the infrastructure of this all together. We know how to share our pains but we should also know how to share our happiness,” he said. 

‘Remove all roadblocks’ 

Elçi was a man of peace and frequently said building roadblocks in southeastern towns was wrong, Kılıçdaroğlu said, in reference to recent attempts by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to prevent security forces from entering some areas with roadblocks and trenches. 

“If this is Elçi’s testament, then everybody should follow this. Roadblocks will not resolve problems but create problems. If you block some roads, avenues in this country, that would not be right. The residents of Diyarbakır do not want this,” he said, citing the importance of Diyarbakır, as a city of culture bringing all different cultural backgrounds together. 

“If you divide the streets of this city, this is unacceptable. If you love Tahir Elçi, you should remove these roadblocks,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.