The President of the European Left Party, Heniz Bierbaum, described the murder of Poyraz as a cowardly attack and conveyed his feelings of solidarity with the HDP and the Poyraz family. Making a point that the attack was a result of the Erdogan administration’s policy of oppression against democratic forces in Turkey, Bierbaum stated that the EU’s leaders should react to these policies.
The Greek socialist party Syriza condemned the attack and sent a message of solidarity to the HDP. Syriza’s message stated: “We condemn the heinous bloody attack on the HDP’s office in Izmir, in which party member Deniz Poyraz lost her life. We express our full support and solidarity with the HDP.”
The Catalan National Assembly also expressed its solidarity with the HDP and in a message it published after Deniz Poyraz’s murder, passed on its condolences to the Poyraz Family. The Assembly stated that oppressive regimes such as Turkey and Spain should be stopped by the EU.
Sergey Lagodinsky, a member of the EP Greens Group and Chairman of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Commission, said, “If you spread hate messages, someone will be killed in the end. I offer my condolences to Deniz Poyraz’s family and friends.” Lagodinsky called on Turkish authorities to investigate this incident and end the hate campaign against the HDP.
Kati Piri, an MP for the Dutch Workers’ Party, published the following message: “A fascist brutally murdered Kurdish activist Deniz Poyraz in the İzmir Provincial Presidency of the HDP.” Piri described the murder as a product of hate policies against political opponents and conveyed her condolences to the Poyraz family and friends.
German Green Party parliamentarian Cem Özdemir also stated in a message he published on Twitter that the attack showed how dissidents in Turkey had to fear for their lives. He said, “I offer my deepest condolences to the Deniz Poyraz family.”
Human Rights Watch (HRW) Europe and its Central Asia Deputy Director Emma Sinclair-Webb stated that the attack on the HDP’s İzmir Provincial Presidency and the murder of Deniz Poyraz should be investigated in all its dimensions. Sinclair-Webb also emphasized that the Turkish presidency and government should abandon their hate speech against the HDP as soon as possible.
The International Alliance for the Defence of Rights and Freedoms (AIDL), a French human rights organisation operating internationally, stated that systematic repression against the HDP continues in Turkey.
