HDP leader speaks out on latest violence across Turkey

DİYARBAKIR

REUTERS Photo

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş has condemned the violence that has enveloped the country and resulted in numerous attacks against his party’s buildings, warning perpetrators about the consequences of their actions.

“Everybody has the democratic right to protest our party. We will pay attention to criticisms and try to understand them,” Demirtaş said in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on Sept. 9, while adding that those lynching innocent people would all ultimately face justice.

“We are addressing the gangs employed on the streets with the coordination of the AKP [Justice and Development Party] and MİT [Turkish National Intelligence],” Demirtaş said, adding that the government was using all state means to convey the message, “If you do not give us 400 deputies [in the November election], you will pay the price.”

Demirtaş said more than 400 attacks had occurred in the past two days on workplaces, seasonal workers, newspaper offices and political party buildings, noting that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu were continuing to target the HDP over violent incidents in the country’s east and southeast.

“There are some among those protesters who think they are backed by the government. They are wrong on that because the government they think is backing them has fallen,” Demirtaş said, adding that the government had been toppled in the June 7 election.

Demirtaş called on those “who think they are backed by the government” to act accordingly, as he noted that the AKP would not be able to form a one-party government after the Nov. 1 election.