HDP Co-Chair Buldan: Solution lies in snap election

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair Pervin Buldan spoke at the Parliamentary Group meeting of her party today (March 30).

Addressing a series of issues on Turkey's agenda, Buldan also talked about the closure case filed against the HDP, the expulsion of HDP Kocaeli MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu from Parliament and the country's withdrawal from the İstanbul Convention by a Presidential decision.

"As long as this government is in power, no one is safe in this country," said Pervin Buldan, briefly adding the following:

"Decisions are now taken not based on the Constitution or the law, but on the imperial order to be uttered by the one man. Instead of listening to the opposition, an indispensable element of democracy, and coming to common sense, they have started a war against the opposition.

"They have staged a coup against the right to elect and to be elected, which is the most fundamental principle of democracy."

Trustees everywhere

Referring to the trustees appointed to the HDP municipalities, Buldan said: "Disregarding the will of millions of Kurds, they have seized the HDP municipalities. Tomorrow will mark its anniversary.

"They have appointed a trustee to Boğaziçi University. We saw the other day that they appointed a trustee to take over the Gezi Park. They have resorted to pressure and oppression to eliminate all democratic, economic and social rights of citizens one by one."

Noting that "the government has no policy offering solutions for the problems in economy, justice, unemployment and poverty", Buldan said,

"Millions are starving, there are no vaccines, the pandemic is claiming lives... The solution they came up with: Filing a closure case against the HDP. Everyone is crying out for justice on the street... The solution they came up with: Growing injustice to HDP and everyone demanding rights."

'A summary of the one-man rule'

Raising concerns that "at least two women are massacred in Turkey every day", HDP Co-Chair Buldan protested that "the solution found in the face of this was to withdraw from the İstanbul Convention, which is of great importance in the struggle against make violence."

"Torture, strip search and human rights violations have smelled to high heaven," said Buldan, briefly adding: "The solution that the government found was to strip our friend Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, who has been waging a struggle for human rights, of his MP status and to detain him in an unlawful and disrespectful manner during his morning prayers."

Pervin Buldan also referred to the "700th Week" lawsuit filed against 46 Saturday Mothers/People, who have long been demanding justice for their enforced disappeared loved ones:

"Saturday Mothers have been waging a struggle for justice in this country for over a quarter of a century. The solution found by the government was to put Saturday Mothers on trial and spoil the truths."

Accordingly, Buldan said that "the people want a ballot box as soon as possible so that they can get rid of this government as soon as possible."

"We are making a call from here: The solution lies in snap election. This is the summary of the one-man rule," added Buldan further.

Closure case against the HDP

The HDP Co-Chair referred to the closure case against her party through the last local elections on March 31, 2019.

"The decision to file a closure case was taken in the evening of March 31, when they lost the metropolitan municipalities," said Buldan, adding that "the plans to file the case were made in the evening of June 23," when the opposition's Ekrem İmamoğlu won the İstanbul repeat elections.

"This is a case of political revenge for this reason," she noted.

"The only thing that you can take away from the HDP might be the signboard of the HDP, at most. But you cannot take away even the signboard because we will not give even our signboard to you," said Buldan.

"We once again remind you that democratic consensus, free politics and universal law are the main lines of the solution. Dialogue and negotiation lay the groundwork for this line. And the way to do this is to lift the isolation in İmralı and open the channels of communication."

'Struggle' for İstanbul Convention

Concluding her remarks, Buldan also talked about the İstanbul Convention: "I am saying this quite openly: If one perpetrator of male violence against a woman is the one who committed the murder, the other perpetrator is the mindset that has terminated the İstanbul Convention."

Buldan said, "This misogynist government is the accomplice, perpetrator and responsible party of every feminicide committed from now on." (DŞ/SD)