Party of Democratic Regions (DBP) Co-president Yüksek spoke at a May Day rally in Batman, drawing attention to the exploitation of workers. He said: “Exploitation is not fate. We will establish cooperatives and a locally based economy.” Yüksek added that the people would live without being dependent on the state. He challenged Turkish President Erdoğan, who recently claimed there was no longer a ‘Kurdish question’, to repeat his words in Batman and Diyarbakır. Yüksek emphasised that AKP was seeking conflict. In Batman the May Day celebration is continuing with tens of thousands at the rally.

‘This system cannot continue like this’

DBP Co-president Kamuran Yüksek said they would turn future May Day celebrations into festivals, adding that the message brought by those attending the rally was: “Rulers, be aware that your sovereignty will be demolished! People here are saying this system cannot go on like this.”
Yüksek said the AKP government was continuing its theft, pillaging and exploitation of workers. He also condemned the ban on holding a May Day rally in Taksim Square in Istanbul.

‘We will live without being dependent on the state’

Yüksek continued his speech, saying: "We did not come into this world to be exploited or to be unemployed.” He also mentioned the subterranean and other sources of wealth in Kurdistan, saying that they would establish cooperatives and use this wealth to serve the people. “We will communalise these resources and govern ourselves without being dependent on the state.

'Let Erdoğan say: ‘there is no Kurdish question’ in Batman and Diyarbakır’

Yüksek said Erdoğan was coming to Batman as if he had not impoverished the workers and not stuffed shoe boxes full of cash, adding that he was denying the existence of the Kurds. “They want to restart the war. That would mean more exploitation of the workers with more investment in armaments. War means enriching the arms dealers. We cannot accept the re-denial of the Kurdish question. Erdoğan is inciting the peoples against each other because he realises his rule is under threat. They want to eliminate the HDP from the equation and prevent it being in parliament. We wonder what Erdoğan will say tomorrow when he comes to Batman and Diyarbakır. Will he say: ‘There is no such thing as a Kurdish question?’” He challenged Turkish President Erdoğan to repeat his words in Batman and Diyarbakır, adding that the Kurdish people knew how to respond, by burying him in the ballot boxes at the elections.

7 June appeal

Yüksek concluded his speech by saying that they would step up the class struggle, and that they saw the first of May as a launch pad for establishing their own system. He called on the workers and peoples to cast their votes for the HDP on 7 June.