HDP urges UN’s Ban, summit to take position on alarming situation in Turkey

ANKARA

The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has called on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and participants of the first World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul to use the summit to “mobilize international mechanisms to respond to alarming violations of universal human rights and humanitarian law within and around the borders of Turkey.”

Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, the co-leaders of the HDP, sent a letter to Ban on May 20 – the day parliament approved a controversial constitutional amendment to lift the immunity of 139 MPs, particularly ones from the HDP.

In their letter, the two leaders promoted their policy of democratic autonomy, which calls for self-governance as a more inclusive and democratic political system at the national level.

“We firmly believe that the primary homework of the First Humanitarian Summit held by his Excellency in Istanbul is to reach an appropriate position with regards to the alarming situation in our home, among others, and contribute to the development of perspectives to resolve such humanitarian situations. Without addressing the very real humanitarian crises, including the one in this very homeland of peoples that we represent, the people experiencing the conditions described above in Turkey and in the region will once again see the humanitarian agenda being sacrificed to geopolitical and economic calculations, deepening the existing lack of trust, disappointment and sense of abandonment,” Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ said.

“Finally, given the fact that the complex humanitarian crises in this ancient home of peoples and civilizations, in Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Palestine, are the direct results of geopolitical and economic calculations and trade-offs between governments, we believe that deepening democracy and embracing the principles of democratic accountability and democratic autonomy at the local level is central to restoring the future and preventing human-made humanitarian crises,” they said.

Meanwhile, a group of rights specialists from the largest body of independent experts in the United Nations Human Rights system have urged all participants of the summit to ensure that human rights are integrated into all aspects of the conference, including national commitments to improve the protection of all those affected by conflict, disaster and displacement.