Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (HEDEP) Co-chair Tülay Hatimoğulları has vehemently opposed Turkey’s military encroachments into North and East Syria.
“We say once again to the AKP government and this regime; withdraw all your armed elements from North and East Syrian territories immediately,” she said in a comprehensive speech on Tuesday to the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (HEDEP) parliament group. Hatimoğulları further examined the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and criticised the Turkish government’s posture in it, accusing them of insincerity towards the plight of the Palestinian people.
The party co-chair highlighted a duplicity in Turkey’s position of advocating peace in Palestine while perpetuating conflict in North and East Syria since 2011, akin to Israel’s actions in Palestine. Hatimoğulları spotlighted the Turkish government’s attempts at demographic alteration in North and East Syria, forcing the Kurdish population out, likening it to the treatment of Palestinians.
“The AKP government says ‘let’s establish peace in Palestine’ but the same things that Israel is inflicting on the Palestinian people, this government has been inflicting on the Kurds in Rojava since 2011,” she stated.
Hatimoğulları appealed for a peaceful and democratic resolution to the ongoing Kurdish issue, saying, “If you say you will bring peace to any Middle Eastern country, whether it’s Palestine or Libya, you will first establish peace on your own lands. You will peacefully and democratically resolve the Kurdish issue, which continues to be a problem, so that you can be an example to the region.”
Furthermore, she pointed out the critical role of Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), who despite being under solitary confinement for 24 years and having no contact with family or lawyers for 32 months, has provided significant insights into resolving the Kurdish issue and other rights matters in Turkey. “The solution is democratic dialogue. I invite everyone to stand against isolation. The isolation must end immediately,” Hatimoğulları urged.
