‘Hindering the establishment of PİA is an utter arbitrariness’

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Human and Freedom Party (PİA) Co-Chair Mehmet Kamaç, Vice Chairs Menüce Gümel and Ahmet Kaya and party founder Tahirxan Bozdemir visited the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) today (January 19).

The party has been submitting petitions for almost two years so that it can be established and recognized as an official political party in Turkey. However, its petitions have not been accepted by the related authorities.

Paying a visit to the HDP Central Office within this context, the PİA executives and founders were welcomed by HDP Co-Chair Mithat Sancar and Vice Co-Chairs Tuncer Bakırhan and Alican Önlü.

Making a statement there, Sancar has noted that what PİA faces is against both the Constitution and the Law on Political Parties. Indicating that the authorities have been committing a crime, Sancar has said, "The Ministry of Interior can reject an application if there are any missing documents; the only authority about the party programme is the Constitutional Court."

"Therefore, all actions taken about your party constitute a crime now. If the documents are not received or no action is taken despite receiving the documents, it is a crime," Sancar has underlined.

"If your documents are given, this party is established. 32 politicial parties have been established since 2018, 27 parties were established only in 2020 and they caused no trouble for any of them. Preventing the PIA from being established is an utter arbitrariness."

Addressing the PİA Executives, Sancar has said, "The tradition that you represent has an important place for Kurdish people as well. This tradition unsettles the parties seeking after manipulating Kurdish people in another way. There are other parties posing as pious; preventing the establishment of PİA will pave the way for them. Because your existence stands in such an important position that it will reveal hypocrisy."

'AKP reduces Kurdish question to ideology'

PİA Chair Mehmet Kamaç has also said, "There is now such a reality when it comes to the politics on Kurdistan: There are parties coming out of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the main aim of these parties is to gather the religious-conservative mass in Kurdistan around themselves, thereby reducing the Kurdish question to an ideological matter."

Referring to the Future and DEVA parties, which have been founded and chaired by Ahmet Davutoğlu and Ali Babacan, two former top state officials from the AKP, Kamaç has said, "Contrary to Turkey in general, the Future and DEVA Parties get much more support in Kurdistan than the AKP. It is also one of the reasons why they prevent the establishment of a party that will represent Kurds in this field." (DŞ/SD)