Demirtaş: Our protests will continue and we will not step back
Demirtaş highlighted the on-going siege on Sur and invited the residents of Amed to continue stating their objections democratically at 16:00 every day until the siege is lifted.
HDP Co-President Selahattin Demirtaş, DBP Co-President Kamuran Yüksek, DTK Co-Presidents Selma Irmak and Hatip Dicle, and HDK Co-Spokesperson Gülistan Koçyiğit made a joint-statement in Amed.
Demirtaş said that they would not step back and peoples’ protests in Amed would continue until the situation in Sur becomes clear. Demirtaş recalled that peoples’ democratic protests would continue at 16:00 today, and said that they could not stay silent in the face of AKP’s massacres in Sur.
HDP Co-President noted that a civilian committee could evacuate the trapped civilians and wounded people in Sur if the siege and curfew were lifted, and more than 10 children were still waiting to be evacuated despite the retrieval of 12 civilians from the neighborhood last night.
In response to Prime Minister Davutoğlu’s claim that none of the trapped people were civilians, Demirtaş said that these claims were false and it was natural for someone who massacred more than 100 civilians in Cizre to lie without a conscience.
Demirtaş also commented on Europe’s position on the conflict, and said that the ECHR was participating in AKP’s crimes in order to end the refugee crisis in Europe. He called upon Kurdish people to trust in their own power and not expect much help from Europe and the ECHR.
HDP Co-President stated that the total number of people trapped in Sur was not clear due to the lack of healthy communication channels, and the AKP’s curfew and military attacks made it impossible for the civilians to evacuate the neighborhood. Demirtaş noted that it was Amed residents’ resilience that has prevented the AKP from carrying out massacres in Amed similar to the ones it carried out in Cizre, and the AKP was scared of Kurdish people because of the crimes it was carrying out against them. Lastly, Demirtaş reminded that they were collecting information and eyewitness accounts on AKP’s massacres, and the HDP would do everything in its powers to ensure the prosecution of everyone responsible for massacres and violations of law in the International Criminal Court.
