HDP waiting for PM’s stance in AKP-Erdoğan debate

ISTANBUL

AA Photo

The co-leader of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, which is playing an active role in efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue, has called on Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu to take an “open position” regarding the recent war of words between his Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

“We are waiting for the outcome [of the debate],” HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş said late on March 22.

“We are particularly curious about the stance of the prime minister as the head of the cabinet. We would like to see on which side of this debate he stands as the cabinet’s head,” Demirtaş told journalists in Istanbul.

Deputy PM Arınç has caused a stir in Turkish politics by openly criticizing President Erdoğan over his interventions into governmental affairs, particularly on the Kurdish issue.

Erdoğan said on March 20 that he did not approve the formation of a monitoring committee as part of the Kurdish peace process, although the government and the HDP had already reached a deal on it.

The deputy prime minister reacted negatively to this interjection the next day. “We love our president, we know his power and are also aware of the services he will give, but please do not forget that there is a government in this country,” said Arınç, who is also the government spokesperson, on March 21.

“His statements that ‘I didn’t like it’ or ‘I don’t approve this and that’ are emotional remarks. The responsibility belongs to the government and we can regard his statements as his personal views,” he told reporters.

Arınç made this statement on the same day as Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), publicized a fresh call on the PKK to hold a congress as soon as possible to discuss disarmament.