BDP: Turkey better protected by supporting peace rather than Patriots

Gültan K??anak said Turkey will not go back to the black years of repression
Speaking at the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) group meeting on Tuesday, party co-chair Gültan K??anak said they will not allow the political situation to go back to the 90’s. She was referring to the recent attempts the AKP government to strip BDP deputies of their parliamentary immunity. In the 90’s Kurdish deputies were stripped of their immunity and some (Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Selim Sadak and the late Orhan Do?an) sent to prison where they spent ten years.

Criticizing Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an who has recently accused BDP deputies of exploiting their parliamentary immunity, K??anak said that Kurdish deputies act regardless of immunity and choose to struggle against the obstacles created to keep them out of the Parliament.
BDP co-chair pointed out that the Kurdish people will never desist from their demands and added; “This is a truth that history has proven times and times again. Should the Kurds be expelled from the Parliament, next time they are going to think about whether they should enter at all. We are voicing these thoughts to make our current situation and position clear. Neither the Turkish state nor the Kurdish people are like they were back in 1994 [when Kurdish deputies were arrested]”.  

K??anak also criticized AKP government for not answering for its policy on Syria and with respect to recent clashes the West Kurdistan city of Serêkaniyê she said: “Civilians in this city have been dying because of armed groups allegedly supported by the AKP government which must therefore answer as to whether it is working for a solution or a civil war in Syria. The authoritarian regime cannot be overthrown by organizing armed gangs inside. Change requires to stand by people asking for freedom”.

BDP co-chair ended saying that “Turkey could be better protected by a policy respecting peace and freedoms, not by Patriot missile defences”. She was referring to the imminent deal with NATO to deploy Patriot missiles in Turkey.

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