Statements by Politicians Regarding Armed Conflict in Urfa

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Politicians released statements regarding the armed conflict that erupted during the election works of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) MP İbrahim Halil Yıldız in the district of Suruç in Turkey's southeastern province of Urfa and claimed the lives of four people and wounded eight others yesterday (June 14).

While the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) stated, "We will not be provoked by such incidents", the Chair of the main opposition party Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said, "Such incidents should remain in history."

As for the government officials, they emphasized that it was an attack targetting the members of the AKP.

HDP: We will not be provoked by such incidents

The Central Executive Committee of the HDP published a statement entitled "Conflict and blood should not be smeared on the elections."

Some of the highlights from the statement of the HDP are as follows:

"We are inviting the people of Suruç, the democratic public and the whole Turkey to act with common sense and moderation in the face of such provocations. We remind the government and the media to use a responsible language. The media organs should immediately stop reporting the incidents by distorting them and basing them on groundless allegations.

"We are making a call to the Prime Minister as well as the Minister of Justice. The necessary steps should be taken to ensure the security of the election works. Your duty is to maintain a secure environment for the elections. We are also calling the prosecutors to duty so that the evidence in the crime scene and at the hospital will not be spoiled.

"Everyone should maintain their composure and the election works should continue in a democratic manner. Conflict and blood should not be smeared on the elections."

Kılıçdaroğlu: Such incidents should remain in history

The Chair of the CHP Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said,

"People have, of course, different opinions in the elections. They go and vote for the candidate that they prefer. There should not be an environment, where people conflict with each other and wound one another. We hope that nobody has lost their lives. We hope that the tension will be over. Politicians should also use a careful language. Such incidents should remain in history."

4 questions by CHP MP İrgil

In its Twitter post about the incident in Suruç, the CHP Bursa MP Ceyhun İrgil listed three main controversies:

"1. Does a person attack a committee coming to his shop with a weapon?

"2. Of the ones who allegedly attacked [the AKP members], three people lost their lives while of the ones who were attacked, one person died.

"3. The ones who allegedly carried out the attack went to the hospital; did they commit suicide there?"

President Erdoğan: The PKK, HDP

President and AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated, "This incident is the most obvious example of the fact that the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) and the HDP have not yet abandoned their strategy to feed and thrive on the blood of the Kurds."

Speaking about the incident today, Erdoğan also said,

"Unfortunately, yesterday, the terrorist organization PKK, HDP killed the brother of Şanlıurfa MP İbrahim Halil Yıldız in Suruç.

"While they were visiting the shop owners, they were met with the attitude, 'Don't you know that we are from the HDP, how can you come here?' and with this attitude, there occurred an attack and as a result of this, such a situation arose."

Prime Minister: Their names are in the police records

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım also stated,

"Regardless of its reason, an election cannot be won with force and blood. I hope that the separatist organization is not behind this attack; the first signs are pointing to that direction. There are findings in that direction. There are police records and findings indicating that the perpetrators or the suspects are sympathizers of the PKK."

While the Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın stated on Twitter, "The incident will be brought to light and its perpetrators will be brought to justice", the Minister of Justice Abdülhamit Gül announced that all judicial and administrative investigations have been launched about the incident." (BK/SD)

* Photograph: Kerem Kocalar / Suruç / Anadolu Agency