HDP deputy group chair and one of the Green Left Party's Erzurum deputy candidates, Meral Danış Beştaş, told ANF, that "first of all, we are facing a 20-year government that has complicated every aspect of life. This government does not improve, but rather disrupts things. It almost turned the country into a complete wreck. Turkey is experiencing deep problems in terms of freedom of expression, the right to engage in politics, economic rights and liberties."

Stating that no one has security and freedom in the country, Beştaş said: "No one has economic security, personal freedom, political freedom. There is great social pressure. The way out of this is to get rid of this government. This is a government that does not keep what it says, makes the opposite of its economic moves, changes its own laws dozens of times, and tries to intimidate our party with the help of the judiciary. It has reached a final point in every sense; administrative, political, social. There was a great reaction and anger. In this respect, these elections are historical and the people will have the last word."

'It is important to enter the parliament with a strong group'

Beştaş said that it is important that the Green Left Party enters Parliament with a strong group, and that for this they have put the parliamentary elections in the first place. "The Assembly election is a top priority. We are trying to ensure representation in the widest sense. Both in the Kurdish provinces and in every region of Turkey. Why? Because we defend the coexistence of the peoples of Turkey, living in equal and free conditions. The 100-120 deputies we get will be very important. Because the current government will fall, melt, break up. The thing that binds this alliance together is corruption. When they lose their seats, there will be no element that binds them together. They will end up like ANAP and the DYP. Therefore, it will be of great importance that we reflect the will of the people to the Parliament. It will become a platform. We are trying to send the representatives of the provinces to Ankara. It is vital that we enter the Parliament with a strong group almost because of the constitutional amendment and the existing decrees."

'Isolation in Imrali is a torture to the people'

Beştaş added that "isolation in Imrali is the biggest unlawfulness in this country. Why? Because the legal regulations are very clear. Detainees and convicts have the absolute right to communicate regardless of who they are. Nowhere in the world are phone calls, letters, family views, lawyers so restricted. Connections with the outside world are not cut off even in isolation cells. In Imrali, as we always say, Mr. Öcalan has no connection at all with anyone. Is he there or not? Maybe he is in another prison. Is he ill or in good health? I don't want to say it, but the question everyone is asking him/herself is whether he is alive or not. Because there is no information at all. There can be no great unlawfulness. This is torture for the people and their families.”

Beştaş continued: “This also has a political dimension. We know how great reactions have emerged on this issue in the past. Mr. Öcalan was the main interlocutor in the solution to the Kurdish problem. He played his role for 2 and a half years: the peoples breathed and looked to the future with hope. Most of the Kurdish people recognize it as willpower. Isolation is another way of not solving the Kurdish problem. And it is also the name of continuing the war. Peace and the demands for a solution are met with isolation. The isolation imposed by political motives and purposes must be lifted."

Meral Danış Beştaş said that Erzurum is a city where different identities live, and added: "I know that we are strong in Erzurum. When my candidacy was announced, our comrades from Turkey, Erzurum and abroad called me. We will represent the will of the people of Erzurum in parliament.”