Erdogan does his best to finally silence minorities: Kurdish politician on noisy arrests
“By making use of the attempted coup experience as a reason, Erdogan exerts pressure over his opponents,” Nazmi Gür, HDP Deputy Leader in charge of foreign affairs, told 168.am, reflecting to the arrests of his party members.
13 Kurdish MPs of Turkish parliament have been arrested overnight of November 4. The statement issued by the Turkish PM reads, that after the law on elimination of the immunity of the MPs was adopted, Kurdish MPs have been called by the Prosecution, however they escaped. “The Prosecution passed a decision to forcedly bring the MPs to the court,” the statement reads.
However, upon some information, the arrested MPs are suspected in having ties with “Kurdistan Worker’s Party” (PKK). The MPs have been taken to Ankara to Prosecutor General’s Office, where they should testify.
It should be stated that Selahattin Demirtaş, co-leader of the left-wing pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), has repeatedly appeared with calls on recognition of the Armenian Genocide and opening the Armenia-Turkey border. Nazmi Gür told 168.am that repressions of Turkey’s authorities should be observed in the context of the attempted coup. In his words, as they anticipated, the attempted coup gave Erdogan a reason to exert pressure over the opposition in all directions, both inside and outside the country, reasoning it by connections with Fethullah Gülen.
“Obviously the statement issued by the PM is simply ridiculous, as for that reason our group of MPs wouldn’t have been arrested. This is a part of wider policy by Turkish authorities, spread both in Syria, Iraq, as well as inside the country, tended to weaken Kurdish people and destroy perspectives for Kurdish autonomy,” Gür said.
The latter informed that health condition of his party friends, according to the lawyer, is good, they keep in touch and work towards freeing them.
“Upon information at our disposal, there is pressure in other cities and regions as well, where Kurds live and where there are Kurdish politicians. According to the Kurdish politician, the campaign launched by Erdogan is once again a signal to the international community-Europe, the USA, that this policy by Erdogan will continue as long as there are no tough reflections and sanctions by the West. “Erdogan continues to prove that minorities have no place neither in the life of Turkey, nor moreover, in its political life. Everything is done by Erdogan to silence the voice of minorities in Turkey,” Gür said. He believes, the same would happen with the Armenian community as well, if its representatives intended to protest.
By Araks Martirosyan
