HDK Co-spokesperson and HDP MP Sebahat Tuncel has drawn attention to the mass political arrests carried out recently by the AKP government, saying: "If you want a solution, why are you carrying out these operations? Why do you not take democratic steps and change your policy towards Rojava?"

Following the solidarity demonstrations with Kobanê of 6-8 October around 3 thousand people were arrested and nearly six hundred remanded in custody, according to data compiled by the HDP.

We asked HDK Co-spokesperson and HDP MP Sebahat Tuncel about these operations against Kurdish politics and its effects on the process of resolution.

'This is a state of emergency policy’

Tuncel said: “The government wants to crush the opposition that has emerged in Kurdistan with the resistance, and also to silence the democratic forces in Turkey. These arrests show that the AKP is implementing emergency law measures.”

Tuncel said the HDK condemned these operations, saying that the AKP was trying to give the impression it wanted a solution, while on the other hand cracking down on the opposition.

‘AKP’s Rojava policy is in tatters'

"With the resistance in Kobanê the AKP government’s Rojava policy has collapsed. The Kurdish people’s solidarity with Kobanê and their taking ownership of it has undermined the AKP’s policy”, said Tuncel, adding that the government was using threats to silence the media. She said the government was trying to deceive the public into thinking it was not obstructing the process, in order to gain an advantage at next year’s elections.

Tuncel said she was in Diyarbakır, where the people were angry towards the AKP, adding that the government did not respect Kurdish sensibilities and used military force against people at the border.

'How can the guns fall silent without a solution?'

Tuncel made the following evaluation of the ‘disarmament’ in the government’s roadmap: “As Kurdish People’s Leader Mr Abdullah Öcalan said from the start, if there is a solution and the government takes steps guns can be put aside. This has been said many times and at all meetings.”

'Negotiations need to start'

Tuncel continued, saying that there were three stages in the process: withdrawal, the taking of confidence-building steps and disarmament. She added that while the Kurdish side had done its bit, the state was continuing to procrastinate and had taken no steps. She emphasised that the problem was in the government and that what was important was whether the government would implement democratic steps.

'If you want a solution, why don’t you introduce democracy?’

In response to a question regarding the AKP using delaying tactics prior to the elections, Tuncel said: “The AKP halted the process on the pretext of the 6-8 October resistance. 2 months have been lost. If you want a solution, why the mass arrests? Why don’t you bring in democracy? Why isn’t the policy towards Rojava changing? These are the questions the AKP must answer.”

'The AKP must meet the hopes that have been created’

Tuncel said the AKP had created hope regarding the process of resolution, and that while they were expecting the government to find a solution it was implementing anti-democratic measures. She added that the AKP had lost its credibility and that for this reason there had been the explosion of anger on 6-8 October, concluding: “The AKP must meet the hopes that have been created”.