Kurds are a founding element of Republic of Turkey: HDP co-chair

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Kurds are a founding element of the Republic of Turkey, as they contributed their blood to the foundation of the country in the war of liberation, Peoples’ Democratic People (HDP) co-chair Figen Yüksekdağ stated on Oct. 30.

Addressing to local neighborhood heads (muhtars) as part of the HDP’s election campaign, Yüksekdağ said Kurds were not deemed “owners of the homeland” for 92 years and had not been considered “equal nationals.”

However, Turkey actually relied on Kurdish people more than others, even before the declaration of the republic, she said.

Yüksekdağ called on muhtars to be local officials “of the people, not the palace,” in a reference to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s regular meetings in his controversial presidential palace in Ankara. 

The HDP co-chair said she sympathized with them as they were being “kept under threats by the state.” 

She also stated that Turkey was being administered by “one-man rule,” suggesting that the “people’s will” had not been so badly damaged since the 1980 military coup d’état.