HDP Co-Chair Mithat Sancar appeals for unity with the HDP

The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair Mithat Sancar, during a party meeting, drew attention to the ongoing detentions of party members and former party members on the grounds of their involvement in the 6-8 October 2014 Kobani Protests. Sancar stated those in governance are actually responsible for the conditions that led to the protests in the first place.

Concerning the behaviour of those in power, Sancar asked: “Why do they lie so much? Because they are guilty. Those ruling are guilty due to their policies at that time when the the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’s (ISIS) attacks were ongoing. They are guilty on the grounds that they remained silent and did not open humanitarian corridors to those who were being targeted in Kobane who were fighting against the barbarism of ISIS and resisting their policies and practices of massacre and rape. They are also guilty of provocation: Their security forces opened fire on the protesters” involved in the 6-8 October 2014 Kobani Protests.

He added that those in power did not prevent the acts of the the paramilitary forces even though they were informed about them. Consequently, they are responsible for the incidents that occurred during 6-8 October 2014. Sancar called on other political forces to unite with the HDP. He stated that the Kurdish people will continue to struggle for justice, democracy and freedom. He emphasized that the HDP defends all these demands for justice, democracy and freedom for everyone in the country.

Turkish courts and security forces launched a detention operation beginning on 27 September that targeted HDP members and former executive members who were stated to be involved in some way with the 6-8 October 2014 Kobani protests. HDP Kars Municipality Co-Mayor Ayhan Bilgen and former HDP deputy Sırrı Süreyya Önder were taken into custody as part of this operation.

Upon launching the operation, 20 HDP members were sent to the Penal Court of Peace on duty by the prosecutor’s office for arrest. Seventeen of the HDP politicians were arrested. Minutes after the court’s ruling, the Interior Ministry appointed a trustee to Kars Municipality, replacing Kars Co-Mayor Ayhan Bilgen with Governor Türker Öksüz. Four other HDP politicians, including HDP Kars Municipality Co-Chair Şevin Alaca, were also arrested.