June 15, 2020
Balkaninsight / Hamdi Firat Buyuk Sarajevo BIRN
Pro-Kurdish Party Starts ‘Justice March’ in Turkey
Hamdi Firat Buyuk Sarajevo BIRN June 15, 2020
The People’s Democratic Party has launched what it calls a march for ‘justice and democracy’ in response to President Erdogan’s growing crackdown on his critics.
Turkey’s pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party, HDP, launched its “Justice and Democracy March” on Monday in the cities of Edirne and Hakkari, in the far east and west of the country.
The two marching groups are expected to converge in the capital, Ankara, in late June.
The third largest party in parliament has been under growing pressure from the government in the last few years for organizing events that challenge the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and for warning him to respect the law or face “the revolt of injustice”.
Over the past four years, at least 23 HDP mayors, including the party’s two former co-leaders, have been imprisoned, while others have been ousted from their elected offices.
The purge of the HDP, accelerated by the collapse of the Turkish-Kurdish peace process, stems from the government’s association of the party with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK, which Ankara classifies as a terrorist organisation.
Since last year’s local elections, in which Erdogan’s party suffered defeats in 45 cities and districts, HDP mayors have been dismissed and dozens of party members arrested because of alleged links to the outlawed PKK, which has been fighting Turkish governments for nearly 40 decades in its quest for Kurdish autonomy.
The HDP also angered Turkey’s strongman when, although it did not nominate any candidates for mayoral office in Turkish cities, it indirectly supported the united opposition’s candidates, clinching the opposition’s victory.
The government’s latest move on June 5, to arrest two HDP MPs alongside with another MP from the main opposition Republican People’s Party, CHP, after their parliamentary status was revoked, prompted the HDP to order a nationwide response.
The three lawmakers are the first to lose their parliamentary status in the current parliament.
Between 2015 and 2018, 11 HDP lawmakers, including their former co- chairman, Figen Yuksekdag, had their parliamentary status revoked for similar reasons.
“This march is the cry of Turkey’s people who are oppressed by the government,” Tuma Celik, an HDP MP and member of the EU-Turkey joint parliamentary commission told BIRN.
Celik said the march was against the government’s pressure and oppression, which had continued for years but intensified lately. “This pressure is not only targeting us but targeting the majority of people, and many are people suffering,” Celik added.
Government moves to block marchers
Since the HDP announced the marches and other related events, the government has taken measures to stop them.
The HDP’s provincial headquarters in Edirne was blockaded by police on Monday morning and provincial governors in several cities on the route of the marches have banned public gatherings.
“The police at the very first tried stopping our march brutally. Our party members were detained before our meeting in Silivri and police even attacked people attending the march while they were sitting in cafes and restaurants. Many are detained for no reason,” Omer Gergerlioglu, another HDP MP and a veteran human rights activist, told BIRN.
Gergerlioglu said this alone revealed the oppression and brutal methods used by the government. “It also shows that importance and of our march and why we are doing this,” he said.
Silivri, an Istanbul district, hosts one of the largest prisons in Turkey, and is “home” to many political prisoners.
“The police tried to stop us in Silivri and Edirne. However, we marched to Edirne prison and issued a press statement with our party officials, MPs and our co-chair, since the police did not allow any other protesters,” Gergerlioglu continued.
Edirne prison is another symbolic site for the HDP; the HDP’s former president, the popular Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas, has been in jail there for more than three-and-a-half years.
HDP co-chair Mithat Sancar also held a press conference in Hakkari under similar measures, as police had blockaded party offices and all roads entering the city.
“This march is for democracy and peace and is against the coup plotters; coup plotters are those who reject the will of people,” Sancar said in his press conference in Hakkari.
Celik said they would not stop, whatever the attempts of the government. “The government will not and cannot stop us. We will continue our march at all costs,” Celik added.
Uniting for democracy and freedom
Omer Gergerlioglu (R), an HDP MP and veteran human right activist marches to Edirne Prison. Photo: HDP
Gergerlioglu said the march would continue to Istanbul after Edirne, and press conferences would be held in several locations, including Istanbul’s famous Taksim Square.
“Later, we will continue our march to Ankara but we will stop in Kandira prison, in Kocaeli, for another press conference. We will salute our friends in the prison there,” Gergerlioglu added.
“There is democratic erosion in Turkey. Basic rights and demands are not being met,” Celik said.
“The economic crisis is getting worse and there are serious effects on our people, but they cannot speak out about anything because of government pressure. The oppressed cannot speak,” he added.
“Turkey’s entire problems are because of one reason; Turkey is heading into a very anti-democratic dictatorial government,” he continued.
President Erdogan and his government have been accused of acting in an increasingly authoritarian manner, especially after a failed coup in 2016.
Since then, official figures show more than 125,000 public servants including army and police officers, doctors, academics and diplomats have been dismissed, and 511,000 people detained or arrested.
Thousands of companies, NGOs and media outlets have been closed down because of alleged links with terrorist organisations.
Gergerlioglu said democracy and human rights were worsening. “People do not trust the courts. All research shows that freedom of organization, freedom of speech and other freedoms are highly violated,” he said.
“We are in a position where a person who opens his mouth ends up in prison. Human rights watchdog organisations’ rankings show that, unfortunately, Turkey is no different to African countries now when it comes to rights and freedoms,” he added.
According to the Journalists’ Union of Turkey, 85 journalists are still in prison and the country has been listed “not free” by the international rights watchdog Freedom House since the Erdogan government’s crackdown.
“The government is not only targeting us and our party. It is targeting everyone. That is why we are calling on everyone to attend our march … including Turks, Kurds, Armenians and Assyrians,” Celik said, underlining the multi-ethnic structure of his party, and of Turkey. He himself is an ethnic Assyrian Christian from the city of Mardin.
During the marches from Edirne and Hakkari to Ankara, the HDP plans to organise press conferences and meetings with people and other parties in city centres.
“We are aiming to increase democratic awareness and unite everyone for democracy and freedom. The democratic situation is getting worse and someone should do something. We, the HDP, are doing this,” Celik concluded.
Yorumlar