HDP Central Executive Committee held an evaluation meeting today after the first round of constitution meetings where the AKP’s proposals were accepted in the Turkish parliament.

HDP Spokesperson Ayhan Bilgen made a statement after the meeting and drew attention to Turkey’s economy today. Bilgen said “Although it is portrayed as the increase in the value of the USD, the TL faces a serious risk of devaluation. There is a significant loss in the purchasing power. Unemployment level reached 12 percent. In a short period of time, 500 thousand unemployed people were added to Turkish society. This is not only because of the course of economics but also due to political governance.”

ARRESTED JOURNALISTS

Bilgen criticized the public’s focus on the presidential system despite the ongoing economical crisis in Turkey, and said that the public is misinformed due to serious violations of press freedom. He said “Some journalists have been in detention for the past 24 days. Turkey has a total of 143 journalists in prison, and this is half of all imprisoned journalists across the globe.”

CONSTITUTION MEETINGS

HDP Spokesperson stated that the way voting and publicity has been handled during the constitutional meetings at the parliament is unacceptable and hurts the legitimacy of the constitution. He noted that several HDP parliamentarians are barred from voting and CHP parliamentarians are targeted, stressing that an unlawful constitution would be adopted if the proposals were accepted during a period of state of emergency.

HDP Spokesperson recalled that changing tens of articles through one proposal is against the technique of drafting a constitution, and the AKP’s proposals aim to make the parliament less effective in order to protect the future and power of a single individual. Bilgen argued that those that attempted to carry out a coup on July 15 would have adopted similar constitutional changes if they had succeeded, and even Kenan Evren, the general who became president after the 1980 coup, could not have made the parliament this dysfunctional.

REFERENDUM CAMPAIGN

Describing the current political process as ‘an attempt of polarization and disciplining the society’, Bilgen announced that the HDP would organize thematic meetings and launch a ‘NO’ campaign regarding the upcoming referendum on constitutional reform. Bilgen called upon AKP and MHP parliamentarians to put an end to the on-going process, and criticized the open-voting system currently employed in the Turkish parliament.

POLITICAL GENOCIDE OPERATIONS

Lastly, HDP Spokesperson Ayhan Bilgen emphasized that every arrest and detention after today would constitute an attempt to weaken the ‘NO’ camp and force the society to say ‘Yes’ to the referendum, and added that this is why HDP parliamentarians are being kept as hostages today.