HDP delegation arrives in Kurdistan Region to meet with senior Kurdish leaders

We are “looking for a democratic process to establish security and stability in the region, especially for the Kurds.”

Mustafa Shilani 2019/09/07 11:27

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A top delegation from Turkey’s opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) arrived in the Kurdistan Region on Saturday for talks with a senior Kurdish leader.

Co-chair Sezai Temelli led the HDP delegation. As part of their four-day visit, the delegation met with Masoud Barzani, President of the leading Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

The HDP delegation are expected to sit with other senior Kurdish officials in the coming days to discuss the latest developments in the region.

During Saturday’s meeting, both sides “exchanged views on various matters including regional issues and the unity of Kurds,” the HDP said on its official Twitter page.

Headed by our co-chair Sezai Temelli, our delegation met with Mr. Massoud Barzani in Iraqi #Kurdistan. The parties exchanged views on various matters including regional issues and the unity of Kurds. pic.twitter.com/kvDPVoXH3A
— HDP English (@HDPenglish) September 7, 2019

In a tweet on his official Twitter account, President Barzani said the two sides “spoke of, among other topics, the current political situation of the Kurds in Turkey, hoping for and working in pursuit of a peaceful resolution to the Kurdish issue there.”

Pleased to receive a Peoples' Democratic Party, HDP delegation today at the Barzani Headquarters. We spoke of, among other topics, the current political situation of the Kurds in Turkey, hoping for and working in pursuit of a peaceful resolution to the Kurdish issue there. pic.twitter.com/2ulKOkIvnF
— Masoud Barzani (@masoud_barzani) September 7, 2019

Abid Ika, an HDP representative in the Kurdistan Region, told Kurdistan 24 the envoy’s visit was meant “to discuss the political situation in the Middle East and the Kurdish development in the region.”

In a press conference after the meeting with Barzani, Temelli described the KDP President as “one of the most influential leaders not only for the Kurds but the politics of the region.”

We are “looking for a democratic process to establish security and stability in the region, especially for the Kurds,” he added.

The visit comes after Turkey’s Interior Ministry removed democratically-elected mayors of the country’s three major Kurdish provinces of Diyarbakir, Mardin, and Van last month.

Istanbul-born Temelli is one of the founders of the HDP and a former lecturer of economics at Istanbul University from which he was sacked in late 2016 in one of the first waves of an ongoing purge of tens of thousands of state employees by the Erdogan administration.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany