After the telephone threats by Turkey's Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, made public by HDP (Peoples’ Democratic Party) co-chair Pervin Buldan the day before, Soylu further escalated the dispute. Yesterday, he told the press that he had told Buldan a lot more than what she said.

The Executive Council of the Peoples’ Democratic Party subsequently issued a press statement pointing to the continued efforts of the Interior Minister to escalate the debate.

Soylu goes beyond any legal and constitutional boundaries by accusing the HDP of an incident with which it has nothing to do. He had earlier blamed the PKK for the death of a man who committed suicide, according to an official statement by the governor.

"There is only one reason for this behavior," the HDP statement said, "Soylu wants to become a minister again and tries to use the HDP to positively appeal to the palace and secure the coalition partner's support. But he threatens our co-chairperson Pervin Buldan openly that he has forfeited her right to life. He threatens the people in the affected village and says that he will leave no stone unturned there. He chooses the path of mass punishment by imposing a curfew in the region and committing human rights abuses.

Only Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu will be responsible for any attack on our members, our party and the village population. We inform the public that we have filed a complaint against him so that he will be held legally accountable."