'We went through this scenario before': Politicians recall 2015 turmoil after HDP attack

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Reacting to the armed assault on the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) that left one party employee dead, opposition politicians recalled the turmoil following the June 2015 election.

Earlier, an armed person stormed the party's office in the western İzmir province and shot Deniz Poyraz dead and set the office on fire, according to the party and the Governor's Office.

HDP İstanbul Deputy Oya Ersoy wrote, "The palace government, which has made the HDP a target as a way to stay in power, is responsible for the attack. Fascism will lose, the people will win!"

"We won't fall for it this time"

Main opposition Republican People's Party Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu condemned the attack on Twitter and wrote: "We went through this scenario before, our people won't fall for it this time. I'm warning, nobody should pin their hopes on these provocations!"

Homeland Party (ANAP) former Chair Nesrin Nas tweeted: "It was said, 'Don't forget what happened after the June 7 [election]' I guess they are trying to remind us in case we forgot," referring to a recent statement by President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

CHP Parliamentary Group Deputy Chair Özgür Özel described the incident as "a political murder that we all know who the instigator is."

CLICK - 'Those who target the HDP on TV are responsible for the attack'

CHP Parliamentary Group Deputy Chair Engin Özkoç wrote, "We will never allow those who are trying to save their declining power with internal disturbances."

Labor Party (EMEP) leader Ercüment Akdeniz said the attack was "cowardly provocation." He wrote, "This attack is not independent of the campaign to intimidate the opposition through the HDP. The ruling power and media are responsible. Let's strengthen solidarity!"

İzmir Mayor Tunç Soyer condemned the attack and wrote: "Our İzmir is the city of peace. We are against any attempt that would disturb the peace."

Democracy and Progress (DEVA) Party Chair Ali Babacan and MP Mustafa Yeneroğlu also condemnded the attack on Twitter.

What happened after the 2015 election?

Speaking to his party's parliamentary group on June 9, Erdoğan warned against a possible repeat of the June 2015 general election, where the AKP had lost the parliamentary majority.

He told his party members that no one should forget what happened after the election, which he said was the "parliamentary aspect of the dark scenario that started with the 2013 Gezi Park protests."

The country went into months of turmoil following the election with the conflict in Kurdish-majority cities and bomb attacks and armed assaults on security officers in several cities across the country. The AKP's loss of parliamentary majority and the following conflict also marked the end of the "resolution process" to the Kurdish question.

Hundreds of civilians, security officers and militants were killed in the urban conflict that took place in the cities of Diyarbakır, Hakkari, Van, Şırnak, Hakkari and Mardin between August 2015 and March 2016.

On August 12, the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella organization of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), stated that "there is no choice left for the people of Kursiatn other than autonomy."

By the end of the month, pro-PKK armed groups declared "democratic autonomy" in at least 16 districts and towns in the aforementioned provinces, which led to months of joint military operations by the army and the police.

When the operations ended in March 2016, at least 310 civilians had been killed, according to a report by the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV/HRFT). Curfews had been declared 63 times in 22 districts in seven provinces.

The largest bomb attack in the period was carried out at a rally led by the HDP and its allied NGOs on October 10 in Ankara, the capital. Two ISIS suicide bombers killed 103 people and wounded dozens.

In the snap election weeks later, on November 3, 2015, the AKP once again secured a parliamentary majority, increasing its voting rate to 49 percent.

(PT/VK)