Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) parliamentary group meeting was held without the arrested co-presidents for the third time. The co-presidents' previous speeches and footage of the co-presidents’ arrests were shown during the first meeting. The second meeting was held without an audience in order to protest the obstructions in the parliament, and Party Spokesperson Ayhan Bilgen had spoken to an empty meeting hall.

Women’s organizations such as Ankara Women’s Platform, We Will Stop Femicides Platform and Campus Witches, and EMEP, Halkevleri, Eğitim Sen and HDP constituents participated in the third meeting, which was held today with the motto “Pressures won’t deter us.”

Group Deputy Chairperson Çağlar Demirel made the opening speech, commemorated the workers that died in the mining disaster in Siirt, and warned that the government was dragging Turkey into darkness.

Demirel emphasized that the government backtracked the sexual exploitation proposal due to women’s protests, and said “The shame of legitimizing rape has been avoided for now. However, we will follow up on the upcoming process, and continue our struggle until the proposal is withdrawn completely.”

Lastly, Demirel read out the letter HDP Co-President Figen Yüksekdağ, who is jailed in Kandıra Prison, wrote to mark the November 25 International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

After Demirel’s opening remarks, Party Spokesperson Ayhan Bilgen addressed the HDP parliamentary group meeting’s participants.

PARLIAMENT DECISION

Bilgen announced the decision on the HDP’s works in the parliament, which had been paused after the recent operations. Bilgen noted that the final decision would be made after discussions with the public, announcing that they would stay in the parliament as he said “We will neither surrender here to you as you want, nor be your figureheads in the parliament.”

The HDP Spokesperson noted that party co-presidents should have been speaking in his place today, and recalled that HDP parliamentarians are held hostage over the past 18 days. Bilgen described the imprisonments as a great shame for the democracy of Turkey.

VISITING THE PARLIAMENTARIANS

Bilgen said that they were arbitrarily prevented from visiting the imprisoned parliamentarians despite the fact that deputies can freely visit prisoners. Bilgen warned that the perpetrators of these arbitrary violations of parliamentarians’ rights, primarily the Minister of Justice, would soon be brought to account.

'ANOTHER COUP'

Ayhan Bilgen stated that HDP parliamentarian Pervin Buldan was prevented from chairing today’s general assembly in the parliament through another coup last night, and said that there is no justice in a country where such outrageous violations of law take place frequently.

'DISASTER COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED'

Bilgen spoke on the mining disaster that took place in Siirt, and criticized the Minister of Health and other government officials who suggested that there was no negligence in the mine just by looking at it from afar. Bilgen emphasized that if auditors were sent to mines as much as they were sent to HDP municipalities, the disaster may not have happened or so many miners would not have died. Bilgen criticized the media for news articles that solely focused on the construction vehicles trapped underground, and said that with such politics that do not value human life, they are bound to lose more and more people.

'16 THOUSAND HOMES LEFT WITHOUT FOOD'

Bilgen also touched upon the emergency decree that was made official today, and criticized the unlawful dismissal of 16 thousand state employees. Bilgen said “Thousands of teachers have been fired, how will they [AKP] talk about their respect for teachers later on?”

Bilgen criticized government officials’ statements regarding the devaluation of Turkish Lira, and said that the Prime Minister’s decision to blame the election of Trump shows the government’s lack of understanding the gravity of the situation.

'THEY ARE MAKING A HABIT OF SEIZING WHAT THEY CANNOT EARN'

HDP Spokesperson Ayhan Bilgen stated that only voters could dismiss parliamentarians from their duties, and condemned the political use of courts for seizing municipalities. Bilgen said that AKP officials are making a habit of seizing what they cannot earn, and emphasized that if Turkey wants to grow it has to make peace with Kurdish people. Bilgen said that all Kurds want is to have dialogue for the solution of the problem, but the state chooses violence over dialogue. Bilgen warned that UN would soon hurt Turkey in money laundering and finance of terrorism commissions. Ayhan Bilgen also said that AKP officials go to the US to request Rıza Sarraf, not Fethullah Gülen, because they are scared of what he may say in US courts. Bilgen touched upon the constitutional committee in the parliament and said that 8 people could not be left with the task of determining the fate of 80 million people.

'WEE WILL NOT SURRENDER, WE WILL NOT BE FIGUREHEADS'

Regarding the decision on the HDP’s work in the parliament, Party Spokesperson Bilgen said that they feel indebted to those that gave their lives for the HDP, and would determine their duties with the memories of volunteer Hamdullah who was massacred in Bingöl, Erkan Öztürk who was killed in Arnavutköy, the people that were burnt inside vehicles in Erzurum, Ceylan Önkol killed in Lice, Mother Taybet shot and left to die on the streets, and many other people. Bilgen said “You should know that we will neither surrender the parliament like you hope, nor become the figurehead here. We will continue to hold meetings with the people. The call of the people, who sent us here to defend a cause, is more valuable than anything else. We will continue our debates until a final decision. We will be here for now, we will be here even if that makes you uncomfortable.”