Prominent figures of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have found themselves in a heated discussion after the Minister of Justice visited the parliamentary group of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) to discuss proposed amendments to the Turkish constitution.
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ and AKP parliamentary group head Mustafa Elitaş met with HDP group deputy chairs on 2 November to inform them about the AKP’s proposal to amend two articles of the Constitution, regarding the right of women to wear hijab and the protection of the family.
The AKP had been implementing an embargo on the HDP, holding no official meetings with them since Turkey’s Constitutional Court accepted an indictment seeking the closure of the pro-Kurdish party in June 2021.
The meeting came as a surprise both to members of the AKP and to political commentators, with many discussing online how the relations between two parties will evolve.
The AKP and its far-right ally the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have for several years been making public allegations that the HDP is equivalent to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), viewed by Turkey as a terrorist organisation, and hundreds of prominent Kurdish politicians have been jailed and all elected HDP mayors have been removed as a part of a widespread crackdown against the Kurdish political movement.
The MHP has so far made no comment about the meeting.
Meanwhile, several prominent names in the AKP found themselves in a debate about how the ruling party should treat the HDP.
“The AKP should make a decision: If the HDP is regarded as a party that they can sit and talk to and whose support is they will take seriously, then it has to change its rhetoric and attitude towards the HDP,” said former Kurdish MP Mehmet Metiner, an AKP politician. “Accusing the HDP of being the political wing of a terrorist organisation which should have no place in parliament, while at the same time accepting it as a counterpart for discussions on Constitutional amendments is a disturbing new development for the AKP,” he added.
Şamil Tayyar, another former MP and a member of the AKP’s executive board made similar comments. “If the HDP is a party that is the political extension of the PKK and should be closed, why are we discussing the Constitution with them?” he asked. “If the PKK and the HDP are different from each other, why do we need this rhetoric and narrative purporting that they are one and the same?” he continued.
Mehmet Ali Cevheri, AKP MP for the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, said that it was difficult to avoid visiting the HDP, recalling that the HDP is a legal party which has a parliamentary group and whose support is needed for proposed changes in the constitution.
HDP group deputy chair Meral Danış Beştaş told Halk TV that her party’s attitude towards Constitutional changes regarding basic rights and freedoms were clear.
Beştaş also responded to the AKP politician Orhan Miroğlu who advised the HDP not to miss the opportunity before them after the meeting between two parties.
“No opportunity came before us, it was just a visit,” she said.