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Turkey
From left: HDP co-chairs Mithat Sancar and Pervin Buldan, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. Photos: HDP and AFP. Graphic: Mehmet Alsafar/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The co-chairs of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) sent a letter to the German Foreign Minister, slamming him for associating the party with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), according to a statement from the HDP on Tuesday.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas released a statement on March 18, expressing his government’s “great concern” over an indictment by a top Turkish prosecutor to close the HDP for the party’s alleged links to the PKK. However, Maas also called on the HDP to “clearly distance itself from the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organisation also in the EU.”
HDP co-chairs, Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar, sent a letter to Maas, criticizing his remark suggesting the party had links to the PKK - a Kurdish armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Ankara and many of its Western allies.
“The letter criticized the German Foreign Minister’s remark that the 'HDP should distance itself from PKK' - this remark is frequently used by the AKP-MHP alliance for the purpose of criminalizing the HDP and making the political field dysfunctional,” reads the statement from the HDP on Tuesday, referring to the Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its ally the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
Officials from both parties have linked the HDP to the PKK and called for its closure.
“It was stated [in the letter] that this form of expression contradicts the values of the European Union and the Council of Europe, especially political organization and freedom of expression,” added the HDP statement.
Buldan and Sancar called on Maas to provide “concrete and legal basis that enables him to make such a call,” saying claims about their links to the PKK are “completely unfounded.”
The HDP has come under continuous crackdown by Ankara for years for the party's alleged links to the PKK. The HDP has denied several times any organic links to the PKK, but some of its leaders have voiced respect for the ideology of the PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan. Unlike most other parties in Turkey, it has refused to call the PKK a terrorist organization.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas released a statement on March 18, expressing his government’s “great concern” over an indictment by a top Turkish prosecutor to close the HDP for the party’s alleged links to the PKK. However, Maas also called on the HDP to “clearly distance itself from the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organisation also in the EU.”
HDP co-chairs, Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar, sent a letter to Maas, criticizing his remark suggesting the party had links to the PKK - a Kurdish armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Ankara and many of its Western allies.
“The letter criticized the German Foreign Minister’s remark that the 'HDP should distance itself from PKK' - this remark is frequently used by the AKP-MHP alliance for the purpose of criminalizing the HDP and making the political field dysfunctional,” reads the statement from the HDP on Tuesday, referring to the Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its ally the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
Officials from both parties have linked the HDP to the PKK and called for its closure.
“It was stated [in the letter] that this form of expression contradicts the values of the European Union and the Council of Europe, especially political organization and freedom of expression,” added the HDP statement.
Buldan and Sancar called on Maas to provide “concrete and legal basis that enables him to make such a call,” saying claims about their links to the PKK are “completely unfounded.”
The HDP has come under continuous crackdown by Ankara for years for the party's alleged links to the PKK. The HDP has denied several times any organic links to the PKK, but some of its leaders have voiced respect for the ideology of the PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan. Unlike most other parties in Turkey, it has refused to call the PKK a terrorist organization.
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