From Parliament Speaker to HDP MPs: There is No Such Thing As Kurdish Provinces

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Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) Speaker İsmail Kahraman intervened in the statements of Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MPs at the General Assembly of the Parliament which was convened today (April 23) with the special agenda of April 23 Children's Day.

Co-Chair of HDP, Pervin Buldan, who was the first MP to take the floor to address the Parliament, said, "In this geography, the geographies inhabited by Kurds were ruled with State of Emergency between 1925 and 1950. State of Emergency was also in force as of 1987 until 2002. If we take the last two years into account as well, this geography has been ruled with State of Emergency for more than 50 years."

Speaking after Buldan, HDP MP Meral Danış Beştaş stated, "We are Kurds, we are not people of Kurdish origin. Among us, there are also Armenians, Assyrians, feminists and Turks. We are the party of Turkey."

Kahraman: "If you do not take back your words, I will order you out of the Parliament"

Parliament Speaker İsmail Kahraman criticized the statements of HDP MPs Buldan and Danış Beştaş by arguing that there are no such things as "Kurdish provinces":

"In Turkish geography, there is only the Republic of Turkey. Your statements are against the Constitution on a high level. The ones who mention Turkish provinces or Kurdish provinces have to be ordered out of the Parliament. Come here and state that you did not intend it that way, or else, I will order you out of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. What are the Kurdish provinces, madam? We will not let the country be divided."

As a response to Kahraman's statement, Danış Beştaş said that with Kurdish provinces, she meant "predominantly Kurdish provinces" and added, "Just as I am a Kurd, Kurdish provinces are also a reality, it cannot be denied."

Stating that the words "Kurdish provinces" were understood to be uttered in terms of population density, Parliament Speaker Kahrman said that there was no need to order the HDP MPs out of the Parliament. (TP/SD)