Demirtaş to German media: I will get to the second turn

HDP Presidential candidate spoke to German media from prison

HDP presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtaş answered questions sent by the German DPA agency.

The HDP presidential candidate is in Edirne prison and, as part of his campaign, he is giving interviews to various foreign media. 

Interviews with hime were also featured in German newspapers such as Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Phase), Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Der Standaard.

Asked about his detention condition, Demirtaş said: “Despite all the difficulties, I am good and I my moral is high. We are two in a small cell. We have radio, television and newspapers. We can talk to our families about a hour a week. We have a total of 4 hours of sports per week”.

Demirtaş emphasized that he has been prevented from carrying out his elections campaign from prison. “I have not much opportunity here. I can reach the voters with short messages I send through my lawyers. My campaign is actually carried out by millions of volunteer friends outside”.

Asked who the HDP will support should Demirtaş not make it to the second turn, the presidential candidate said: “I will contest the second turn, I believe this and I trust my people”.

Underlining that the 14 June elections are an opportunity for democracy he added: “Clearly this will not be the last chance: the struggle for democracy will continue"

Asked whether he was actually engaged in a personal struggle with President Erdogan, Demirtaş said: "No, this is not the case. I am defending democracy against the one-man regime. This is about anti-fascism, not about anti-Erdogan”.

Asked what future awaits Turkey, should the opposition loose the elections, Demirtaş said: “We will go on fighting and we’ll step up ourpolitical struggle. We will try to prevent the institutionalization of fascism and further damage being done to the community. The AKP won’t bring positive things to Turkey”.

Evaluating the effect of the AKP-MHP alliance on the Kurds, Demirtaş said: “Kurds are loudly rising against this fascist bloke. The AKP has completely lost the support of the Kurds”.

Asked whether there is a problem between Kurds and Turks, Demirtaş pointed out that “in fact the problem is not between Kurds and Turks, but between Kurds and the State, Kurds and government policies. There is a problem - he said - because the government violently repressed Kurds”. 

Responding to the criticism that the HDP does not distance itself enough from the PKK, Demirtaş said: “We are a legal party that has taken its place in parliament tanks to the votes of the people and our duty is to represent the people. We represent those who voted for us, not the PKK. In terms of violence, we are also clear, we don’t support violence, we don’t defend it. At the same time, though, we also oppose the government's use of violence to reduce the Kurdish question to a mere question of terrorism”.

Demirtaş said the first thing he would do if he were elected President would be to “begin talks for a new constitution to be written. We will lift the State of Emergency (OHAL) and we will impulse democratic reforms and open the door to the parliamentary system”.