Demirtas: Enmity against Kurds useless for Turkey

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) – Selahattin Demirtas, co-leader of the left-wing pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), said on Saturday that Turkey had no other option but to give up enmity against Kurds and create a coalition with them.

Demirtas also stressed that Turkey would not have success without Kurds and would achieve nothing through hostility.

He expressed these remarks during a press conference in Diyarbakir (known as Amad among Kurds) in southeastern Turkey (Bakur) at the funeral ceremony of Sileyman Guzele. The 19-year-old man was wounded during a demonstration on Wednesday and died of his injuries three days later.

Referring to the United Nations (UN) international laws, Demirtas stated that if Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia attack Syria against the consent of the Coalition forces and Kurds, they will fail, and they will be considered occupiers. 

Demirtas further highlighted that the Turkish government policy has created tension in the country's foreign and domestic relationships. "Due to the internal conflicts, there are now funerals in all the cities," he said.

The co-leader of the HDP pointed out that in most cases the Turkish forces “insult and collapse the bodies and then burn them."

He attributed the Turkish government and its sympathizers of aggression, and equated their policy to the one of Ismail Enver Pasha, an Ottoman military officer who instigated the Armenian genocide.

Demirtas stated that HDP would pursue its efforts with the hope of resolving issues through negotiations and dialogue. He also accused the Prime Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davutoglu of attempting to initiate a war in Syria.

On Saturday, the Turkish army shelled Mengh Airport and targeted Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) near the city of Azaz in northwest Syria.

Reporting by Gulala Khaled
Editing by Ava Homa and Karzan Sulaivany