AKP MP insults Demirtaş, his children on Twitter, then says 'tweet sent from wrong account'

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Başak Demirtaş, the spouse of Selahattin Demirtaş, the imprisoned former co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), said yesterday that he was not allowed to see his daughters together because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Since the pandemic broke out, he could see his daughters only for once and separately," Başak Demirtaş said on Twitter.

MP Tamer Akkal from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) tweeted on her statement, saying that "Selo the dog can't see his puppies. Our martyr children can't see their fathers as well. God will either help you or us."

He also added the "Selahattin Demirtaş is a terrorist" hashtag to his tweet.

He deleted the tweet after one hour and 39 minutes and later said it wasn't him but an adviser who sent the tweet after "confusing accounts."

HDP Co-Chairs Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar said in a statement today that Akkal's statement was a "confession of trolling."

With his statement, Akkal admitted that they were going to send the insulting message from another account, they noted.

"What Akkal wrote is an expression of the hate language that disregards every king of human values. This language and tone that spreads poison caused great anger and deeply hurt the public conscience," said the statement.

"It is so serious that it can never be viewed as an individual mistake, irresponsibility or error," the HDP co-chairs said, adding that it was the reflection of a mentality polarizing the society.

Facing "terrorism-related" charges, Demirtaş has been behind bars since November 2016. (AS/VK)