‘Demirtaş and Kavala are behind bars because Erdoğan wants it’

* Photo & news: Anadolu Agency (AA)

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu addressed the reporters before attending the closed-door online meeting of the CHP Party Assembly yesterday (September 8).

Kılıçdaroğlu touched upon a series of issues in Turkey's agenda, including the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, economic crisis and the continued arrest of Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) former Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş and businessperson-rights defender Osman Kavala.

Some highlights from his speech were as follows:

'Numbers do not reflect the truth'

Coronavirus outbreak: "I also know that in this process that we live in, the coronavirus data is not real, the numbers are more than that. Neither the number of cases nor that of the deaths reflects the truth and everyone knows it. But we will continue with our struggle.

"What is the first thing to do? You should prevent the spread of the virus. You need to take measures for that. The second thing is: If the disease is caught despite all measures, you are supposed to treat it. It is that simple. It is what the world has been doing. That was how we started in the beginning.

"Now, the COVID-19 microbe is spreading and, therefore, hospitals are full, so are intensive care units. Everything has just turned upside down. This shows that the country is not ruled properly.

'What instructions does Erdoğan give you?'

Criticism about Health Minister Fahrettin Koca: "He makes statements at a certain hour in the evening. He says, 'This number of our citizens have been infected, that number of our citizens have lost their lives...'

"This reassured people in the beginning, but after some time, Health Minister has also lost all credibility. Why? He started his sentences like: 'Upon the instructions of our Mr. President...' The person that you call Mr. President is not a physician. How can you do it upon his instruction?

"If we will talk about instructions, then they should be the instructions of the Science Board. If opinions will be taken, then, they will be the opinions of the Science Board. You are a doctor, all members of the Coronavirus Science Board are doctors. They are the ones who recommend what to do and how. What instruction does Erdoğan give you?

"After this instruction, everything has gone somewhere totally without credibility. The respectability of the state has been damaged a lot. Today, neither the number of cases nor that of the deaths reflects the truth. Everyone, but everyone knows it quite well.

Call to President Erdoğan

Criticism about President and ruling AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: "Stand before the public and explain how you will save Turkey from this economic crisis. List what you will do one by one. If you cannot say it, then tell me this: 'Well, Kılıçdaroğlu; I could not do it, you do it.' I will explain it because I love my country very much.

Osman Kavala and Selahattin Demirtaş: "About Osman Kavala... The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) says there is a violation of right in this file. He is still behind bars. Why? Because Erdoğan wants it.

"Selahattin Demirtaş... The ECtHR says that 'his arrest is political, he must be released.' According to the Constitution, the ECtHR rulings have supremacy over the domestic law.

"But Erdoğan says, 'Let them remain behind bars.' He thinks that Osman Kavala and Selahattin Demirtaş will say 'I did it, but please don't.' But they will never say that. Those who were unjustly kept behind bars will always have this period that they served in prison as a medal of honor on their chests." (EMK/SD)