HDP Spokesperson Ayhan Bilgen held a press conference after the HDP Central Executive Committee meeting in Ankara and said that people of Shengal, Bab and Manbij would make the decision on the future of their towns. Bilgen noted that Turkey is becoming a second Israel in the Middle East, and condemned the attacks on HDP buildings across Turkey.

POLITICAL GENOCIDE OPERATIONS

Bilgen stated that they would monitor the legal process regarding the attacks on HDP offices, and thanked party officials for their sensitivity and hard work in reopening the offices. Bilgen stated that HDP Vice Co-chair Aysel Tuğluk was detained during a house raid this morning, and the state has abandoned legal procedures altogether during its political genocide operations. Bilgen noted that HDP parliamentarians have been detained through a political coup at the Turkish parliament, and these operations of political genocide are accompanied by the prosecution of journalists. He recalled that nearly 150 journalists are currently in prison because of their work and for the content they share on social media.

BURNING OF SOLDIERS BY ISIS

HDP Spokesperson Bilgen pointed out that the AKP government is censoring the Internet as opposed to correcting its mistakes regarding the resolution of real problems such as the burning of soldiers in Syria. Bilgen said “They took a side in the war as they made an alliance with Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries. You cannot support ISIS and al Nusra on the one hand, and enter Syria in order to contribute to peace on the other hand. Even though the other 3 parties in the parliament supported Turkish state incursions into Syria, we objected to taking a side in this war because it will cost Turkey dearly. Turkey is becoming a second Israel in the Middle East. It has problems with its neighbors, suppresses its opposition, and tries to maintain its security through operations in other countries. Such a perception of security threatens everyone in Turkey.”

CHANGES IN THE CONSTITUTION

Regarding the constitutional changes proposed by the AKP, Bilgen said that the political future of a single individual is intertwined with the fate of the entire country, and that criticism of a single person is described as a threat to the nation. Bilgen described the government and the opposition that supports these proposals, as groups playing Russian roulette, and said that the lack of a discussion on the proposals will deepen the political crisis in Turkey. Bilgen described the proposed changes as the construction of a single-party and single-person regime, and announced that the HDP would soon organize roundtables across the country to discuss the AKP’s proposals.

'PEOPLE WILL MAKE THE DECISION IN SHENGAL, BAB AND MANBIJ'

HDP Spokesperson Bilgen recalled the AKP government’s silence on the massacre and enslavement of thousands of Êzidî people two years ago, and said that those that failed to make a single comment back then have no right to describe the self-defense forces of Êzidî people as a threat now. Lastly, Bilgen emphasized that people of Shengal, Bab and Manbij would make the decision on the future of their towns.