Turkey's HDP spokesperson says he would vote 'yes' in Kurdistan Region referendum

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Kurdistan 24) – A prominent member of Turkey’s Pro-Kurdish party on Saturday said he would vote “yes” in an upcoming referendum on the Kurdistan Region’s secession from Iraq if he had the right to vote.

The Peoples’ Democratic Party’s (HDP) spokesperson Osman Baydemir has been leading a week-long demonstration in the city of Diyarbakir against an ongoing crackdown on the Kurdish political movement by the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“I very much want as a Kurd from the North [Kurdistan of Turkey], as a child of the Kurdish nation to witness that day,” Baydemir said about the Sep. 25 referendum.

Baydemir, a lawmaker at the Turkish Parliament for the Sanliurfa Province, was talking to Kurdistan 24 during a break from the sit-in at a public park in Diyarbakir.

“Allow me also to state this: If I was a Kurd from the South [Kurdistan Region], and if I had the right to vote, I swear to God, I would go to the ballot box, and I would say ‘yes,’” he told Kurdistan 24.

The HDP spokesperson also said one of the reasons they were holding the demonstration was to urge the Ankara government to respect the will of the Region’s people and Syrian Kurds’ demand for autonomy.

Earlier in June, the Turkish government rejected the Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani and leading parties’ decision to go to a referendum.

“In short, we say stop enmity against the Kurds,” Baydemir added, highlighting peoples’ right to self-determination.

During the interview, Baydemir also explained his party’s position regarding any military or economic threats the Region might receive from Iran and Turkey, neighboring countries that oppose Kurdish independence.

“We view any threat on Bashur [the Kurdistan Region] as on us,” Baydemir added.

Baydemir reminded of a previous statement by President Barzani who said Kurdistan had the right to self-determination the way Scotland, Catalonia, and Quebec did.

“In the 21st century, if two communities cannot live together in peace, then they can become good neighbors,” Baydemir concurred.

The HDP, whose Co-leader Selahattin Demirtas and 10 other lawmakers remain in Turkish prisons, has consistently expressed support for the Kurdistan Region’s referendum.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany

(Hesen Kako of Kurdistan 24’s Diyarbakir bureau conducted the interview with HDP’s Osman Baydemir)