Diaspora Kurds express anger and frustration at Diyarbakir attack on election rally

By Deniz Serinci in Denmark and Polla Garmiany in Germany

COPENHAGEN/MAINZ – Diaspora Kurds vented their anger and frustration in street protests across Europe on Saturday, a day after deadly bombings on a pro-Kurdish election rally in Turkey’s southeast.

In cities like Frankfurt, Stockholm, London, Vienna and Basel, Kurds staged demonstrations in solidarity with the two killed and about 100 wounded in twin bombings at a rally in Diyarbakir by the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

In Stockholm, Kurds gathered in the Swedish capital’s Sergel Square, shouting slogans denouncing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose heavy hand many suspect behind several attacks on the HDP, two of them deadly.

Lawen Redar, an MP with a Kurdish background from the Swedish Social Democratic Party, called on protesters with relatives in Turkey to urge them to vote for the HDP in Sunday’s general elections. “The attacks are unacceptable!”

Speakers from the Amara Kurdish Women's Association, the Sweden Alevi Foundation, the Kurdistan National Congress and singer  Dilba Demirbag condemned the attacks in separate speeches.

Protesters held up flags of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and HDP, as well as portraits of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.

The elections in Turkey take place in an atmosphere of tension, following several attacks on the HDP, some of them deadly.

Friday’s bombings came days after another deadly attack: on Wednesday, unknown assailants fired on the HDP’s campaign vehicle, killing the driver. Weeks earlier, bomb explosions at HDP offices injured six people in the southern city of Adana city and neighboring Mersin.

Sunday’s elections are seen as a showdown between the HDP and Erdogan: the president wants constitutional changes to transform the government into a presidency, with unprecedented powers in his own hands. The HDP has vowed not to let that happen.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Saturday that the explosions in Diyarbakir -- known to Kurds as Amed -- were acts of "sabotage and provocation."

In Copenhagen Kurds with roots in Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria and from different political parties attended a demonstration organized by Feykurd, the League of Kurdish Associations in Denmark.

Local parliamentary candidates for various Danish parties and representatives of Kurdish parties, such as the Syrian-Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), condemned the attacks.

According to Soren Sondergaard, parliamentary candidate for the Unity List, people should be careful to conclude who is behind the attack, since several groups have an interest in preventing HDP from getting represented in the Turkish parliament.

"I hope more than ever people will vote, because a big election victory for HDP is the only solution to end President Erdogan’s majority rule in the Turkish parliament,” Sondergaard said.

“This is just pure propaganda by Turkish fascists!” said Kurdish activist Rohat Murad, who attended a rally in the German capital, Berlin.  “Erdogan and his gang are afraid of the HDP. He wants to get his new presidential Turkey, but the HDP will stop him and his clique!”

In the Austrian capital of Vienna, Parastu Azizi who has roots in Kermanshah in Iranian Kurdistan, said: “I am shocked about the attacks of Amed! This is just another proof of the bad situation of the Kurds living in North Kurdistan,” in Turkey, she said. “Many people say it was the AKP and Erdogan, but I can also imagine that it was some Turkish nationalist group. Kurds have to fear everybody. This is so sad.”

In the Swiss city of Basel, thousands marched and demanded peace and justice in North Kurdistan.  “The policy of the AKP is what led to this attack, directly or indirectly,” said Heval Kaya, one of the protesters in Basel.

On Friday, several students with Kurdish roots staged a small demonstration outside the Turkish consulate in the German city of Stuttgart. “Long Live Kurdistan,” and “Down with Erdogan’s fascist regime,” the protesters shouted.

The blasts in Diyarbakir occurred five minutes apart at the HDP’s final election rally, as party leader Selahattin Demirtas was preparing to address the crowd.

Rally organizers first said a malfunctioning power distribution unit caused the explosions, but Energy Minister Taner Yildiz later dismissed that. He said they were caused by an "external interference" with the power unit, though he did not say whether he believed a bomb was involved.