* Photo: HDP
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Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Spokesperson Ebru Günay held a press conference today and addressed the current issues on the agenda. She specifically referred to the state-mafia relations in the wake of the statements of Sedat Peker, who is accused of leading a criminal organization.
Currently abroad, Peker has been posting some videos on YouTube regarding the 'state-mafia' relations in Turkey, targeting especially Minister of Interior Soylu and former Interior Minister Mehmet Ağar.
Addressing the reporters within this context, Ebru Günay said that "gangs and mafias are partners of the government."
"There is no law, there are ongoing attacks on democratic politics, politicians are arrested, trustees are appointed to replace elected mayors, Turkey has been facing the greatest injustices of its history; women, university students and young people who seek their rights are tortured; there has remained no pressure not imposed on unions and civil society," protested Ebru Günay and asked: "If this is not coup, then, what is?"
'Every household is aggrieved'
Günay underlined that "fostering the democratic and joint struggle is no longer a request or need, but it is now an imperative."
"Otherwise, gangs, mafias and dark groups will keep surrounding Turkey. With the confessions surfacing today, the entire society is witnessing this reality," Günay said, adding that "they had already known that the ruling alliance was involved in crime up to its neck."
"As the oppressed, Kurds, women, Alevis and otherized people of this society, we witnessed all types of attacks and recklessness of the state. With the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), these attacks have spread across the country. As the saying goes, almost every household was aggrieved and they still are," she added.
Hostility towards Kurds
According to Günay, "as was also the case in the past, there is an attempt to hide this rottenness through a mounting hostility towards Kurds."
"The actors of these dirty relations try to whitewash themselves with unreal feats of arms and references to the homeland, nation and flag."
Günay raised concerns that "in a period when Turkey sees record high numbers of crimes, people as young as secondary school students use drugs, feminicides have increased and hate speech has been normalized, the ones responsible for all of these crimes are claimed."
"The dirty relations and state of rottenness that have recently surfaced by the revelations in the videos do not account for even one percent of the reality. It is just the tip of the iceberg. The issue is far beyond figures such as Sedat Peker, Süleyman Soylu or Mehmet Ağar; it is directly related to the state that has ganged up," HDP's Ebru Günay noted further.
To Erdoğan: You are all involved in this
Saying that "if one side of this ganging up is the tender games and the manufacture of war machines, the other side is the fight for distribution in the bureaucracy", Günay raised concerns that President and ruling AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan "laid claim to the ones involved in the network of dirty relations and told them that 'they were not alone'."
"Erdoğan is right; none of these people is alone. None of them got involved in these dirty relations on their own. You are all involved in this."
Referring to Erdoğan's remarks, Günay noted that they are "threatening the opposition parties with the language of the mafia, saying, 'These are your good days, you will see what will happen next'."
Concluding her remarks, Günay said, "This very mafia order is attacking the opposition to cover up its own crimes and to sustain this dirty and rotten order." Underlining that "there is no solution other than waging a joint struggle against this reality of ganged up politics", she said, "Either everyone will wait for the day when it will be their turn or they will principally raise an objection to this state of rottenness even though it is not their turn." (DŞ/SD)
