Swedish Social Democratic Workers’ Party MP and Parliamentary Foreign Relations Commission Member Anders Osteberg and two other social democratic politicians called on Turkey’s electorate to go to the polls and teach the AKP government a lesson on the local elections to be held on March 31.

A declaration published in the Dagens Arena newspaper said in the 17 years of Erdogan and AKP governments, democratic rights and freedoms have gradually disappeared and the conflict between secular and religious groups in society have been brought to the fore, resulting in a polarized society.

“FASCIST ALLIANCE”

The declaration said the AKP has progressed to more and more nationalist and chauvinist policies in time, and is now entering the March 31 elections together with the racist and fascist MHP. The pressure against the HDP, intellectuals and journalists, was also mentioned in the declaration, with the following:

“Many representatives from the opposition party HDP, including its leaders, have been arrested arbitrarily. Institutions and media who criticize the government, especially those that are pro-Kurdish, have seen increasing political, legal and social pressure. Freedom of expression and the extent of civil society have all decreased.”

“ALEVIS TARGETED”

The declaration stressed that Kurds and Alevis have been systemically discriminated against and the 20 million Alevis are prevented from carrying out their religious duties and ceremonies. The declaration continued:

“Alevis have been subjected to countless massacres throughout history, in Dersim, in Maras, in Corum and in Sivas to name a few. Recently, doors of Alevi homes were marked with red crosses and the religious community was threatened with being burned alive like in Dersim, Maras, Corum and Sivas.

Similar incidents happened in Malatya, Istanbul and most recently in the Yamanlar neighborhood of Izmir, where the population is mostly Kurds and Alevis who fled the Maras massacre of 1978.

Reports say that on March 21, AKP supporters visited Yamanlar to ask for votes for the March 31 elections but the neighborhood residents told them they would not be voting for them. When they woke up the next day, residents saw their doors marked with red crosses. Families whose homes were marked said, ‘History repeats itself. We fled the Maras massacre and now we are hunted here.’”

PROTESTING SOYLU

Social democrats said Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu threatened Turkish citizens living abroad with arrest when they return to the country, and added: “Dare to go to the ballots and challenge the AKP!”