HDP asks KCK to make effort to prevent violence

ISTANBUL

HDP co-leader Selahattin Demirtaş

The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has demanded that the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), the urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), make a call for restraint and calm, as the violent tension continues to simmer across Turkey.

“We want the KCK management to make an effort to decrease the tension, to call on protesters to avoid violence, to seriously investigate armed attacks and to take measures to prevent such incidents,” said the HDP in a written statement on Oct. 10.

The party also called on the media to use a respectful and moderate language when reporting on the HDP or the protests, as part of efforts to calm the atmosphere.

“By working together, it is possible to prevent grounds for massacres and provocations. It is also possible to do that and also protect Kobane, and to solve problems through dialogue,” the statement also added. 

The statement came a day after the HDP co-leader Selahattin Demirtaş also called for calm amid the jihadist advance on the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane.