DTK Co-Chair Berdan Öztürk said that the recent mass detention of the Kurds increased the grudge and hatred among the people and stressed that, "We will defeat the government in the May 14 elections once and for all.”
On the eve of the elections in Kurdistan and Turkey on May 14, the AKP-MHP government continues to attack the Kurds. Putting the election security in jeopardy and intimidating the opposition, the AKP-MHP is resorting to detentions and arrests.
The Democratic Society Congress (DTK) Co-Chair Berdan Öztürk spoke to ANF about the mass detentions of the Kurds in the past weeks.
VOTERS LOOKING FORWARD TO ELECTIONS
Öztürk stated that during the election campaign they encountered determined voters looking forward to the elections on May 14. He added that the political genocide operations triggered the impatience of the people.
Öztürk stressed that detentions and arrests increased the people’s hatred and grudge against the government. He continued: “Our people know very well the purpose of arrests in different institutions on the eve of the historic elections. But we will defeat the government in the elections once and for all. When we look at these attacks politically, we see a government that has nothing to offer to society. Not only the political genocide operations, but also the attacks against South Kurdistan show that the government is persistent in its hostility towards Kurds. The AKP tries to maintain power by detaining and arresting Kurdish politicians and waging war against the Kurds, but they make a mistake.”
THEIR DAYS ARE NUMBERED
Öztürk recalled that tens of thousands of their colleagues have been detained in the last 8 years, and half of them have been jailed. He said: “Similar political genocide operations have been experienced before. In the last 8 years, tens of thousands of our friends have been arrested and they are still in prison. But our resistance and struggle have continued for years, replacing those arrested with others. This time, too, we will respond to the crackdown. This time there is no way out. They will go. Their days are numbered.”
THE OPPOSITION MUST BE SINCERE
Öztürk remarked that the opposition, which remains silent about the attacks against the Kurds, should be sincere in their discourse of democracy. He concluded: “The opposition must act based on principles. Attacks against the Green Left Party, the HDP, the DBP, journalists and other institutions are taking place shortly before the elections, but the opposition parties do not speak out. They keep talking about the rule of law and justice, but they do not speak about the unlawfulness against the Kurds. As the DTK, we would like to say that if this indifference continues in the coming period, the existing problems will deepen even more. If you are talking about getting rid of the one-man regime in this atmosphere where war and anti-Kurdish policies are deepening, then you should do your part.”
