KOBANÎ TRIAL

Erdoğan's communications director calls HDP politicians 'murderers'

"Thankfully, we have full faith in justice. Our state and nation always stand against all centers that want to divide Turkey," Altun has remarked.

İstanbul

Erdoğan's communications director calls HDP politicians 'murderers'

Photo: AA

Click to read the article in Turkish

Presidency Communications Director Fahrettin Altun has called Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) politicians "murderers" as their trial over the 2014 Kobanî protests started today (April 26).

"Those who resorted to every method from terrorism to sanctions to take Turkey to the path they want have not succeeded and will not succeed by God's will," he said during a speech at the "Martyr Diplomats Exhibition" at Sirkeci Railway Station, İstanbul.

"The October 6-8 incidents, where bloody massacres against civilians occurred as a result of the order of the terrorist organization PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party] and its political extensions, are one of such attempts," Altun remarked.

"The perpetrators of these murders, which have international aspects and served the interests of terrorist organizations such as the PKK and ISIS, appear before the judge today. So, today is the time for the murderers to give an account.

"Thankfully, we have full faith in justice. Our state and nation always stand against all centers that want to divide Turkey and break it into pieces and those who want to stab it from inside.

"We won't stop for a moment the fights against terrorist organizations, global power centers and putschist mentalities."

About Kobanî protests

In September 2014, ISIS, which controlled a large territory in Syria at the time, launched an offensive to Kobanî, a Kurdish town in northern Syria, near the country's border with Turkey.

In late September, a group of people went to Suruç, a town neighboring Kobanî in the predominantly Kurdish city of Urfa, and attempted to cross the border. Police prevented them, using tear gas and rubber bullets.

Pictures allegedly showing ISIS militia crossing into Syria were published on the same days.

Also, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made statements indicating that they equated the PKK with ISIS. While the wounded coming from Kobanî were kept waiting on the border, the wounded from ISIS were treated at hospitals. Several news reports were reported in the press, saying "Kobanî fell." These news reports were denied every time.

After the HDP made a call to take to the streets against a possible massacre in Kobanî, thousands of people protested in Kurdish-majority provinces as well as Ankara and İstanbul. While left parties also supported these protests, deaths also occurred with the onset of police violence. Street conflicts ensued. 42 people lost their lives from October 6 to 12, 2014.

According to a report by the Human Rights Association (İHD), 46 people died, 682 people were wounded and 323 people were arrested in the protests held between September 7 and 12, 2014. As reported by the AA, 31 people lost their lives, 221 citizens and 139 police officers were wounded.

(AS/VK)