HDP former Izmir MP and Honorary President Ertuğrul Kürkçü spoke at a meeting at the Labor Training Center (ABF) in Stockholm, Sweden.

Kürkçü said that the hunger strikers' demand is consistent and justified as well as it is legal, humanitarian, conscientious and moral.

Kürkçü reminded that the DTK co-chair and HDP Hakkari MP Leyla Güven and other activists are struggling for life and called on all human rights defenders to strengthen their solidarity with the hunger strikers.

“The panorama in Turkey is less dark than before, I can tell you this with confidence,” he said, adding that Erdoğan is resorting to pressure, media manipulation and dirty tricks in order to try and survive.

Kürkçü reminded that indeed since 7 June 2015 Turkey is governed by an illegitimate government, pointing out that the 15 July coup was encouraged by the AKP itself and was used as a tool for the establishment of a dictatorship.

Talking about the forthcoming 31 March local elections, Kürkçü said: “These elections can bring very important results. We were faced with three elections, namely the constitution and the presidential vote, presidential and parliamentary elections and local elections held to build a new regime in Turkey, to produce consent to construct a dictatorial regime.”

In the first two stages Turkey got the favour of the European Parliamentary Assembly, managing to hold Europe under the threat of Security and Cooperation.

Kürkçü explained the fraud and manipulation experienced at the elections by giving concrete examples and said that the government, which thought to have crossed the river after the previous two elections, is actually faced with a serious risk of chocking at the 31 March elections.

Kürkçü stressed that the 31 March election is important for the dictatorship as it is a winning or losing election.

“Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has turned this local election into a referendum on himself” but it is a gamble as people in Kurdistan and all over Turkey “will send a strong message to the AKP”.

Kürkçü pointed out that Erdoğan and the AKP government could follow a more aggressive policy after the elections and added, “This, however, does not eliminate the fact that the AKP regime is falling apart from the inside.”

Solidarity with hunger strikers should increase

Regarding the hunger strike protests, Kürkçü said; “The demands of the hunger strikers are extremely simple and clear. There is in fact only one demand. Ending the isolation on Abdullah Öcalan. This process is not very well understood by the outside circles most of the times.”

Kürkçü said that the demand of hunger strikers is consistent, legal, human, conscientious and moral, and that the rights of prisoners to meet with their family and lawyers are guaranteed by international laws, the Turkish constitution and the prison legislation.

Ending his remarks, Kürkçü said: “Solidarity must be strengthened today in order to avoid any bad news tomorrow.”