Jailed HDP co-chair condemns PKK for killing Turkish teacher

EDİRNE

Jailed opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş has condemned the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for killing a Turkish teacher. 

In a statement he sent from prison in the western province of Edirne, Demirtaş said there can be no explanation to the killing of the 23-year-old teacher Necmettin Yılmaz.
 
“I condemn and curse the slaughtering of teacher Necmettin without hesitation. There can be no legitimate or moral reason behind such a savagery,” Demirtaş said on July 22. 

Yılmaz, a teacher who was working in a village in the Siverek district of the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, was abducted by PKK militants in the Pülümür district of the eastern province of Tunceli on June 16. 

His dead body was found on July 12 and the murder caused widespread anger in Turkey. 

“I wish patience for those who loved him. I want to say that we won’t accept remaining silent to these kinds of murders,” said Demirtaş, who was arrested on Nov. 4, 2016. 

In addition to Demirtaş, former HDP co-chair and lawmaker Figen Yüksekdağ, as well as nine of the party’s lawmakers are in jail over their alleged links to the PKK and face hundreds of years in prison. 

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu visited Pülümür on July 22 and offered his condolences to Yılmaz’s family. 

“It’s inhumane and barbaric to kill our son, who was carrying out the sacred duty of a teacher. We know how to treat them [PKK militants]. Our people should rest assured,” Soylu said.