BDP says Paris killings will not derail process
ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News
BDP lawmaker Pelvin Buldan makes a speech in Parliament carrying a photto of arrested deputy Selma Irmak. AA photo
A prominent member of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) voiced her conviction on Monday that the assassination of three female Kurdish militants should not cast a shadow over the latest process aiming to end the three-decade-old conflict between the security forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).“In my opinion, [the dialogue process] should continue. The perpetrators of these murders aimed to sabotage this process. On the one hand, the will for a resolution should prevail; on the other hand, the assassinations should be solved,” Pervin Buldan, deputy parliamentary group chair of the BDP, told the Hürriyet Daily News when asked whether the process could go on without events behind the murders being solved.
Sakine Cansız, one of the founding members of the PKK; Fidan Doğan, the Paris representative of the Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress (KNK); and Kurdish activist Leyla Söylemez, were murdered on Jan. 9 in an obvious “execution-style hit.” The three were found dead in the office of the Kurdistan Information Center.
It came at a time when the Turkish government had launched a new round of talks with the PKK’s imprisoned chief Abdullah Öcalan.
When reminded of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli’s recent warning that the planned funerals of the victims in Diyarbakır must not resemble the controversial surrender of a group of PKK militants at the Habur border crossing in 2009 – which came during the government’s “Kurdish opening” strategy - Buldan said “such provocations should not be allowed.”
“I believe such an approach by the MHP is not right. Everybody should introduce their contribution to the process, including the MHP,” she added.
AKP deputy: Iran, Russia may be behind killings
Meanwhile, speculation continued as to who was responsible for the Paris killings. Since Jan. 9, a considerable number of analysts both in Turkey and abroad have cited foreign intelligence services, notably those of Iran and Syria, as possible powers behind the murders, with the motive of destabilizing Turkey.
On Monday they were joined for the first time by a politician from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), when Diyarbakır deputy Galip Ensarioğlu also suggested that the Iranian or Russian intelligence services may be behind the killings.
The two countries may be seeking to destabilize Turkey in view of its growing regional role, Ensarioğlu said in Diyarbakır.
“In the past, it was also said that they [Iran and Russia] had an agreement with the PKK for a continuation of the clashes. Ending conflict and violence in Turkey will turn the country into a very serious regional power, and this does not favor them,” Ensarioğlu was quoted as saying by the Doğan News Agency.
Diyarbakır to host funeral
DİYARBAKIR - Doğan News Agency
A public funeral ceremony will be held in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on Jan. 17 for three female Kurdish activists killed last week in Paris, with officials expecting a massive turnout to meet the bodies at the airport. A large crowd is expected to welcome the women’s remains when they arrive at the airport in Diyarbakır before the bodies of the three are taken to the city’s Batıkent Square, where a massive, public funeral will be held. The bodies will then be sent on to their hometowns.
A public funeral ceremony will be held in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on Jan. 17 for three female Kurdish activists killed last week in Paris, with officials expecting a massive turnout to meet the bodies at the airport.
A large crowd is expected to welcome the women’s remains when they arrive at the airport in Diyarbakır before the bodies of the three are taken to the city’s Batıkent Square, where a massive, public funeral will be held. The bodies will then be sent on to the women’s individual hometowns. Preparations for the ceremony are currently underway in Diyarbakır and a huge crowd is expected to be waiting at the airport when the bodies arrive from France, Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) provincial head Zübeyde Zümrüt said.
“We will welcome our three female friends at the airport. Then we will march to Batıkent Square as a crowd where we plan to hold the funeral. After the ceremony, we will send our friends to their hometowns. On Wednesday, we will call on people in and around Diyarbakır to halt their daily life [momentarily]. We expect everyone’s participation in the ceremony,” Zümrüt said.
