'If there are panzers where children play, there is a Kurdish question'

* Photo: DEVA Party social media account

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DEVA Party Chair Ali Babacan spoke at the Eyüpsultan District Congress of his party in İstanbul on Saturday (September 25).

Addressing ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chair Devlet Bahçeli, who say that "there is no Kurdish question in Turkey", former AKP politician and DEVA Party Chair Ali Babacan said:

"Those who wonder if there is a Kurdish issue can ask it to Kurds living in this country. Bahçeli, the partner in crises, is constantly saying this. He can go and walk around Şemdinli, Bağlar, Cizre... We will see if he can say in Ankara, 'There is no such problem' upon his return."

Addressing Bahçeli further, he said, "Mr. Bahçeli, Turkey is sick and tired of your rageful language. They are sick and tired of your yelling. Calm down. We are determined to protect this country from your hate. We are determined to protect it from your separating, othering language."

Babacan also referred to the different statements of President and ruling AKP Chair Erdoğan about the "existence" of the Kurdish question in the country over the years. Recently, Erdoğan has said that "there is no such an issue as they have overcome and resolved it."

"This government has revived the Kurdish issue, this is the core of the matter," said DEVA Party Chair Ali Babacan, briefly adding:

"If panzers are going about in the areas where children play, there is an issue here. If trustees are appointed to the municipalities in the Kurdish-majority provinces, there is an issue here. If there is still a debate on the right of mother language in this country, there is an issue.

"If only a handful of Kurdish teachers are appointed in a huge country in a year and if the second most widely spoken language of Turkey is not among the languages offered by the Interior Ministry's application to fight violence against women, there is an issue here. And this issue is called the Kurdish issue. The place to resolve the Kurdish issue is democratic politics."

(NÖ/SD)