Minister slams EU commissioner’s ‘HDP role key’ tweet

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

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Turkish EU Affairs Minister Ömer Çelik has slammed EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn for his remarks about the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party’s (HDP) role in the solution of the Kurdish issue in Turkey. In a series of posts made on his official Twitter account late on Sept. 27, Çelik criticized Hahn’s characterization of the HDP’s role as “key.”

“While [the] EU considers [the] PKK [outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party] a terrorist organisation, [the] HDP rejects to do so. Then we sincerely wonder how [the] HDP will play a key role?” Çelik wrote on his Twitter account, as he added that the “EU should ask [the] HDP to distance itself from PKK terror.”

Earlier, following his meeting with HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş in Brussels, Hahn commented on the Kurdish issue in a series of tweets. 

“[A] political solution of [the] Kurdish issue [is] as crucial as ever. [The] HDP role [is] key. All actors must distance themselves from any kind of violence,” Hahn wrote, adding that “Turkey needs genuine, constructive dialogue including all parties.”

Çelik reacted to Hahn’s statements, saying that “this is not the proper way to stand by Turkey in its fight against terror.”

“One cannot help but wonder who are the actors that should distance themselves from violence in Turkey,” Çelik tweeted.