The party’s co-chair Selahattin Demirtas is imprisoned in Edirne Prison and HDP MPs assembled party’s parliamentary group in front of the prison to raise awareness for MPs whore are currently behind bars.

All HDP MPs who are not in prison were present in the meeting. Party’s co-chair Serpil Kemalbay delivered a speech saying “Our co-chair is kept in Edirne Prison as a hostage. We think our presence here in Edirne at the start of the new legislative year is meaningful. We are here to show the position of Turkish parliament in AKP-Palace government, to present the antidemocratic picture of the parliament to the public opinion and to show everyone that we are not used to the reality 10 MPs taken hostage.”

Kemalbay said they will continue to struggle on the streets and in the parliament and it's nobody’s business to dictate them where they should be. With these remarks, Kemalbay was referring to Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s statement “You (HDP) know they belong to Qandil.”

Kemalbay wowed to continue to struggle until the victory of democracy, peace and freedom.

The meeting went ahead despite Edirne Governor's ban for all gatherings in the city.