Kadri Yıldırım and Nazmi Gür, members of the HDP delegation currently inspecting Zergêle village where the Turkish state massacred local people, said that only civilians were living in the village and all of the slain people were civilians.

HDP delegation composed of Urfa Parliamentarian Osman Baydemir, Siirt Parliamentarian Kadri Yıldırım, İstanbul Parliamentarian Hüda Kaya, HDP Vice President responsible for foreign relations Nazmi Gür, MYK member Hatice Altınışık and DBP Hewler representative Şilan Eminoğlu inspected Zergelê village where Turkish warplanes had carried out the massacre on August 1, killing eight people and wounding dozens.

YILDIRIM: REPORTS OF SOUTH KURDISTAN ALSO CONFIRM THAT CIVILIANS WERE MASSACRED

HDP Parliamentarian Kadri Yıldırım spoke to ANF and said that their goal in coming to Zergêle was to investigate whether the massacred people were PKK guerrillas and Zergêle was a PKK camp, as Turkish state and government officials suggested. Yıldırım stated that they investigated in depth, took photos, visited the destroyed houses, and spoke to civilian people and the families of the deceased.

Yıldırım noted that the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Hewler, South Kurdistan also issued a report on the attack, which was given to the HDP delegation recently. According to Yıldırım, this report also showed that all of the martyred and injured people were civilians, and it was not just the HDP delegation’s report suggesting that civilians were massacred in Zergêle.

'THEY WILL BE DISGRACED IN THE INTERNATIONAL ARENA'

Yıldırım pointed out that the houses destroyed in Zergêle had nothing to do with being PKK camps, and women, children and old men were bombed during their sleep. Yıldırım said that the massacre’s perpetrators would be disgraced in the international arena, and HDP would present its reports as well as the report written by South Kurdistan to human rights and criminal tribunals.

GÜR: CIVILIANS WERE TARGETED ON PURPOSE

HDP Vice President responsible for foreign relations Nazmi Gür spoke to ANF and said that 8 civilians were killed and more than 20 civilians were injured during Turkish warplanes’ bombardment of houses in Zergêle village. Gür objected to AKP officials’ statements disregarding the civilian status of the slain people, and said that HDP would do everything in order to raise awareness about the massacre across the globe.

Gür described Zergêle as one of the oldest villages in South Kurdistan where hundreds of people were living in 37 households. Gür stated that these civilians were targeted on purpose, and HDP would publicize this massacre by sending the English translation of its report to different countries and international organizations. Gür invited bar associations in North and South Kurdistan to follow up on this attack and ensure the international prosecution of the massacre’s perpetrators. Gür described the attack on Zergêle as another Roboskî massacre, and said that they would do everything in order to prevent future massacres.

'TURKISH SOCIETY MUST STAND UP'

Gür noted that AKP was trying to enforce dissolution and deadlock upon Kurdish people through violence, and HDP would expose the crimes of AKP. Gür recalled the Turkish army’s description of the village as a PKK camp in an Anadolu Agency (AA) news article, and invited the agency to declare the truth about Zergêle. Gür ended his statement by calling upon the peoples of Turkey to rise up and take action against the massacre of civilians in Zergêle.