To Whom It May Concern, The round-the-clock “curfews” (read: indefinite military siege of entire settlements) in Kurdish cities of Turkey since August 2015 continue with full force, which is a clear violation of the Turkish law and Constitution. As of March 23, 2016, sixty-one “curfews” were declared in 7 cities and 21 towns for […]
Category: communique
Press conference in the European Parliament on AKP's massacres
Osman Baydemir, HDP’s deputy for Urfa, Batman deputy Ali Atalan and HDP European Parliament Representative Faik Yağızay held a press conference in the EP together with the Left Group. Marie-Christine Vergiat from the Kurdish Friendship Group in the European Parliament, Takis Hadjigeorgiou, co-chair of the Delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, and Spanish MP […]
Monitoring Committee expresses serious concern at recent developments in Turkey
Meeting in Paris on 9 March 2016, the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) expresses its serious concern at recent developments in Turkey with respect to restrictions on media freedom and access to pluralistic information, challenges to the decisions of the Constitutional Court and the erosion of the rule […]
PES Pre-Council meeting – Press release
EU Turkey cooperation is vital, Ankara should respect human rights European Socialist leaders met today to discuss developments in the situation regarding refugees and relations between the EU and Turkey. They were joined by Selahattin Demirtas, People’s Democratic Party’s leader – one of the PES Member Parties in Turkey -, and Eyyup Doru, european representative […]
Presidents from four groups at the EP addressed a letter to Mogherini concerning the situation in Kurdish region
March 03, 2016 Dear HR/VP Mogherini, We write to you regarding the escalation of violence in the context of the conflict between the Turkish security forces and the PKK in the south-east of Turkey, which has already caused more than a hundred civilian deaths. We are deeply concerned that the current climate of violence […]
Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ call upon international institutions to act for Sur
Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chairs Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş have written a letter to the Secretariat General of the United Nations, UN-affiliated institutions, all parliaments and Presidency of the European Parliament, European Commission, Secretariat General of the Organization For Security and Cooperation in Europe, embassies and political parties abroad. HDP co-chairs called upon all […]
Letter written by MEPs to PM Davutoğlu on the situation in Sur
18 members of the European Parliament have sent a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu calling for an end to the 87 days long siege in Amed’s central Sur district. MEPS called for urgent action to avoid another Cizre case in Sur. The 18 parliamentarians had been on a visit to Amed city last […]
URGENT ACTION CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Diyarbakir, February 24, 2016 I am a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey for the province of Diyarbakir and am writing this letter to you from the central district of Sur currently under heavy bombardment of the Turkish armed forces. For the past six months, since August 2015, six indefinite round-the-clock curfews have […]
Urgent Call of the HDP for Sur
Don’t let tomorrow be too late for Sur.. The indefinite, round-the-clock curfews that the AKP government has declared in Turkey’s Kurdish provinces since August 16, 2015 continue to deepen the emergency situation that undermines basic human rights and freedoms in the region, including the right to live and personal safety. As of today, curfews have […]
HDP's delegation – Meeting with Alexis Tsipras
A delegation led by the People’s Democratic Party co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş and the representative of the HDP in Europe Eyyup Doru met with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras as part of a fraternal meeting in Athens today. The issues of refugees and immigration in general, the struggle of the Kurdish people in the Middle East […]
Letter of the Co-presidents of the HDP
To the President of European Council, Mr. Donald Tusk To the President of European Commission, Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker To the Chancellor of Germany, Mrs. Angela Merkel, We have been closely following how war and conflicts taking place both in Middle East and Turkey affect Europe directly. The humanitarian devastation caused by war and tragedies […]
HDP issues urgent call for action by international organizations
The Peoples’ Democratic Party has written a letter calling upon international humanitarian organizations and public opinion to take urgent and effective initiatives for the ending of the state of siege and onslaught in the Kurdish region of Turkey. The letter by Hişyar Özsoy, Vice Co-chair in Charge of Foreign Affairs of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and […]
UN High Commissioner urges Turkey to respect fundamental rights
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein urged the Turkish authorities on Monday to respect the fundamental rights of civilians in its security operations and to promptly investigate the alleged shooting of a group of unarmed people in the south-eastern town of Cizre, after shocking video footage of the event emerged last […]
HDP'S statement on Cizre
January 30, 2016 To the press and public opinion, For the last nine days, we have been making every effort to have our dead and seriously wounded citizens who are trapped in the basement of an apartment building in Cizre—among them many dead and seriously wounded—transferred to hospital. Our efforts to clear what that […]
Selahattin Demirtas met Elmar Brok at the European parliament
Selahattin Demirtas, co-president of the HDP and Eyyup Doru, representative of the HDP in Europe met Elmar Brok, German member of the European Parliament for the European People’s Party and current Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs and President of the Union of the European Federalists (UEF) at the EP this morning. […]
Civilian deaths in sieges imposed by the security forces
The first of these sieges, described as “curfews,” was imposed in Varto, starting on 16 August. There are sieges still in course in Cizre, Silopi and Sur districts. “Curfews” have been declared 56 times in 20 districts of 7 cities and so far these curfews have totaled 307 days. In some districts where curfews have […]
S&Ds Press release – Call on Turkey to return to Kurdish peace process
During the European Parliament debate on the situation in the south-east of Turkey, MEPs from the Socialists and Democrats Group called on Turkey to return to the Kurdish peace process. The S&D Group stated it will also visit the region in February. Kati Piri, S&D MEP and European Parliament rapporteur on Turkey, said: “The […]
HDP Delegation – Visit United Nations officials
A HDP delegation visited the Nations Unions headquarters in Geneva today to denounce the genocidal policies of the Turkish state. Nazmi Gür, co-vice president and head of external relations of the People’s Democratic Party and Meral Danis Bestas, HDP’s MP for the city of Adana came to the United Nations Headquarters where they met several […]
Co-mayors of Amed, Mardin and Van met EP and EU officials
A delegation of the People’s Democratic Party Co-mayors of Amed Mardin and Van Metropolitan Municipalities have had a series of talks with officials from the European Parliament, European Union and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. The meetings in Strasbourg was focused on the Turkish state terror in Kurdistan and the humanitarian […]
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) alarmed by escalating violence in south-east Turkey
Ingebjørg Godskesen (Norway, EC) and Nataša Vuckovic (Serbia, SOC), co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for post-monitoring dialogue with Turkey, reacting to yesterday’s attack on the police headquarters in Çinar (Diyarbakir) that left six people dead, including three children, and 39 wounded, have made the following statement: “This is a […]