Demirtas refutes accusations of treason

ANKARA, Turkey (K24) - The co-chair of Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Selahattin Demirtas, strongly protested Thursday accusations of treason by the Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, and several pro-government newspapers.

Speaking to reporters at Esenboga International Airport in Ankara upon his return from Moscow, Demirtas said that his party refuses to "to remain silent" in the face of charges by "thieves."

Demirtas alluded to a late 2013 corruption scandal that involved four ministers from the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) government that eventually caused a significant reshuffling in the cabinet of the then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is now the President.

Earlier on Thursday, Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu accused Demirtas of treason over the latter's comments that the November Turkish downing of a Russian warplane over the Syrian border was wrong. Demirtas shared his party's view on the incident with the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, in a meeting during a visit to Moscow on Wednesday.

Demirtas harshly criticised Turkish foreign policy, which has resulted, he said, in the fact that Turkish officials could not visit the capitals of neighbouring countries of Iran, Armenia, Syria, and Iraq.

"They [the Turkish government] have disgraced Turkey; that is why they can't deal with the fact that HDP is respected worldwide," Demirtas told reporters.

"The way you [Turkish government] attack HDP viciously is because you want to cover up your own mistakes. Today, three newspapers used the same headline with orders from the Prime Minister," said Demirtas.

On Thursday, several pro-government newspapers, including Aksam and Yenisafak, used the headline "traitor" with pictures showing Demirtas shaking hands with Lavrov.

"HDP is representing the society [of Turkey]. My visits to Washington [in early December] and Moscow as well were for the goal of living in peace in Turkey," he added.

The HDP co-chair visited the US capital, Washington D.C., where he met several top American officials, including the Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken and President Barack Obama's special advisor on the Islamic State group and senior director at the National Security Council, Robert Malley.

Demirtas also stated that there was a civil war occurring in Turkey, as violence continued mounting in several curfew-imposed Kurdish towns, including the central Sur district of Diyarbakir, Dargecit (Kerboran) of Mardin province, Cizre and Silopi of Sirnak province. Hundreds of civilians, Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters and Turkish police and soldiers have been killed since last August when a two-years held ceasefire and peace talks between the PKK and the Turkish government collapsed.

(Adnan Gerger contributed to this story from Ankara)