Following the unlawful detentions yesterday of our Istanbul MP Hüda Kaya, Diyarbakır MP Altan Tan and Adana MP Meral Danış Beştaş, our Spokesperson and Kars MP Ayhan Bilgen was detained this morning.
It is clear to see that the referendum campaign of the Erdogan-AKP-MHP alliance seeks to intimidate our MPs with such unlawful detentions.
The Judiciary and the Erdogan-AKP-MHP alliance are working in a synchronized and coordinated manner. The statement made by Government Spokesperson Numan Kurtulmus while our Party Spokesperson remains detained, declaring that 'the judicial process must be observed' is merely a futile attempt to lay the blame elsewhere.
The process is not a judicial one, it is political through and through. The parliamentary immunity of our MPs has been lifted in breach both of the Constitution and international democratic conventions. Our co-chairs and MPs are being held hostage in prisons in violation of binding precedents of the Constitutional Court. The parliamentary immunity of our MPs has been lifted only retroactively meaning they all currently hold parliamentary immunity. The government Spokesperson Kurtulmus is fully aware of the unlawful nature of the situation, however, he prefers to distort the facts.
These arrests and detentions are government actions and the political responsibility belongs to the government. In saying "there is no single type of decision" Kurtulmus is actually revealing this fact. These decisions are arbitrary and retaliatory. Our Co-Chairs and some of our deputies continue to be arbitrarily held [hostage] in prison, while others are taken into custody and are later released. The Government Spokesperson should know very well that no statement will save them from the political responsibility of the crime they are committing.
The only true words government Spokesperson Kurtulmus uttered today were, "HDP was a chance". This is why Erdogan and AKP are trying to eradicate this chance: They have realized that the people of this country have come to recognize this truth. The presence of a democratic power, a grassroots movement that has the potential to stop them politically has led them to take the decision to carry out this unlawful purge, an operation carried out outside the field of politics.
You can not break or change our political will by taking us hostage, or through arrests and detentions. You can not stop us from conducting our 'No' campaign before the upcoming referendum with threats or intimidation.
Peoples’ Democratic Party
Central Executive Committee
29 January 2017