HDP-Baydemir: Kurds are facing a brutal massacre in Turkey
by Roni Alasor
Brussels, 12 January 2016 - Middle East Diplomatic (MED) - In a press conference in the European Parliament in Brussels, Osman Baydemir, Kurdish HDP member of Turkey’s Parliament, called urgently to EU and world to stop arm sells to Turkey as soon as possible and break the silence on crimes and massacres against Kurdish civilians.
Mr. Baydemir underlined that the past months and weeks have been the most brutal time for Kurds in Turkey in the last 30 years and the situation is worsening day by day.
Former mayor of Kurdish capital city Diyarbakir, Mr. Baydemir, who is also Member of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, described the disastrous consequences of the violence continuing since months: 1, 5 million Kurds are affected in over 10 Kurdish cities and towns have been destroyed by heavy artillery ; Kurdish civilians have been attacked with heavy artillery, tanks and bombs resulting in the death of more than 160 civilians, including 3-months babies and 86 years old people; 30 Kurdish mayors are in the prison; the rest of them are dismissed or suspended from their positions; We Kurdish parliamentarians are under heavy state pressure and terror; world cultural heritage located in Kurdistan is being destroyed. There are signs that some groups of the killers from Turkish special teams are speaking in Arabic between them. Some sources connecting them to isis criminals who have been trained under “train-equip project” financed by Turkey and western countries as well.
The Kurdish parliamentarian called urgently to EU and US to stop arm sells to Turkey as soon as possible and break the silence on crimes and massacres against Kurdish civilians. Baydemir underlined that EU and US have to take moral responsibility to put pressure on Turkey to return to the negotiation table and to re-launch dialog for peace agreement with Kurds before that the humanitarian catastrophe will reach its pick with irreversible consequences.
The press conference was hosted by Gabi Zimmer, President of the Group of the United Left-Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) in cooperation with HDP-Europe and in the presence of Feleknas Uca, former Member of the European Parliament and currently Member of Turkey’s Parliament from HDP and HDP EU Representative Eyup Doru.