HDP must distance itself from PKK, says Akşener

ANKARA

The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) must distance itself from the terrorist PKK, Meral Akşener, the leader of the opposition İYİ (Good) Party, has said.

“We have been stressing this for months: We put the HDP next to the PKK,” Akşener said during her party’s parliamentary group meeting yesterday, suggesting the HDP has close ties to the terror organization.

Akşener noted that on a recent visit to the southeastern province of Siirt, she was in a conversation with a local who said, “Here is Kurdistan.” The remark triggered a backlash from Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and members of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

“They were surprised. Why? This person is a member of the HDP. This discourse of “Kurdistan” belongs to the terror organization. Thus, this did not take us by surprise. We always say the HDP must distance itself from the PKK,” Akşener added.

The person who engaged in the conversation with Akşener was later briefly detained.Soylu criticized Akşener for remaining silent over his remarks.On a separate note, during her speech in the party group meeting, Akşener referred to Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the PKK, as “Mr. Öcalan.”After party officials warned her, Akşener apologized.“I did not realize what I said. I would never call a baby killer [Öcalan] ‘Mister.’ I apologize to you and the nation,” she said.

Akşener also vowed that if her party comes to power in the next elections, they will reinstate the Istanbul Convention, an international pact said to combat violence against women.““Here I say it clearly and precisely: When we get the authorization, the Istanbul Convention will be signed and implemented in the sharpest way,Turkey withdrew from the convention on March 19.