Reactions to the AKP-MHP government's police political operations carried out days before the elections against Kurdish journalists, lawyers and artists are growing. Speaking to ANF, Öztürk Türkdoğan, former co-chair of the Human Rights Association (İHD) and Green Left Party candidate, said that this operation was an intervention in the election.

They won’t achieve their goal!

Türkdoğan pointed out that the government is trying to intimidate the voters of the Green Left Party with this operation, but, he added, ‘this is a futile effort.’ He said that this type of operation has been carried out frequently for 8 years but the reactions to it show that the government cannot achieve its goals.

Öztürk said that this operation has no legal basis and added that it exposes one more time the anti-democratic character of the regime, showing that the judiciary in Turkey is directly under the control of the political power. "You cannot detain so many journalists, so many lawyers, politicians and artists at once," said Öztürk, adding: "These are practices of the martial law period. They are completely arbitrary applications. There is nothing to be explained by law. The only thing to do against this is to get rid of this government in the election. Anyone who says I am a Kurd, I am an Alevi, I am in favor of democracy and human rights, I want democracy in this country, must contribute to getting rid of this government."

'We will ensure rights for all'

Türkdoğan said: "There will be a change of power on 14 May, and when we come to the parliament, we will definitely eliminate the mechanism that allows such operations to be carried out. We will ensure freedom of expression for all, freedom of association for all, the right to assemble for all, the right to engage in politics for all."