ANKARA, Turkey—The Kurdish people in Turkey have been left with no other option than taking up arms, says prominent Kurdish lawmaker Osman Baydemir after the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) announced it would work to revoke Kurdish MPs immunity last month.
“If there is a road to peace, resorting to war is forbidden, but what can one do when all other roads are closed,” the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker told Rudaw Wednesday.
Baydemir who also served as the mayor for the main Kurdish city of Diyarbakir said Kurds are prevented from fully participating in the political process and are pushed towards war.
On April 12, AKP lawmakers put forth a proposal aimed at lifting the diplomatic immunities of the HDP members of the parliament, which would enable them to be charged with allegedly supporting terrorism in Turkey.
The mayor of the Kurdish city of Mardin, Ahmed Turk, told Rudaw he and his colleagues would support “coexistence and brotherhood in Turkey to the end” despite the proposal.
“We need to think about politics and our future. We should not think that abandoning politics is an option for us,” Turk said who was accused of connections with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in 2009 by Turkey’s powerful Constitutional Court. Turk’s party the Democratic Society Party (DTP) was subsequently banned.
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