Sancar: A massacre was planned in Izmir

A board meeting was to be held today at the HDP headquarters in Izmir. HDP Co-Chairman Mithat Sancar believes that a massacre was planned there. HDP member Deniz Poyraz, who was killed in the attack, will be buried on Friday.

HDP Co-Chair Mithat Sancar has spoken out in Ankara about the attack on the party headquarters in Izmir and the murder of staff member Deniz Poyraz. According to Sancar, a board meeting with about forty people was set to take place in the building today. The meeting had been postponed at short notice. "So it was not just about murdering any person. It was set to be a massacre," he explained.

This was also shown by a subsequent inspection of the crime scene by HDP members. Not only one or two targeted shots were fired, but the damage to the premises indicated a continuous bombardment aimed at killing all those present.

Sancar explained that the attack was at the same time a dangerous provocation: "We have been saying this for months; the government feeds on chaos and wants to silence the democratic opposition through threats and blackmail. The HDP is wanted to be intimidated by all means. This is the goal of the Kobanê trial and the banning of the HDP. Those who cannot deal with us through legal and political means have now brought armed assassins to bear."

The HDP co-chair recalled the bloody attacks between the June and November 2015 elections in Turkey: "At that time, similar plans were at stake. Our party headquarters were attacked, our employees were murdered, bombs were thrown at squares, hundreds of people were killed in suicide bombings, the country was drowned in blood. And now the government has realized that it can't get out of this sinister series of blood and filth, and wants to wreak havoc."

Mithat Sancar said that the government was responsible for the attack in Izmir and all other developments because it spreads hate speech every day, promotes polarization in society and incites violent clashes. He continued:

"Our party building in Izmir has been under siege for about a year and a half. Provocateurs from different contexts are sent in front of the building. There are countless police officers in the vicinity all the time. The perpetrator entered the building quite openly at 10:30 a.m. today with a gun in his hand. Hundreds of police officers ignored him or let him pass. We will use legal means to demand accountability for this and use political means to make all provocations fail. We will make sure that those responsible for this are held accountable at the ballot box and at all levels of democratic politics."

Nor is the attack directed solely against the HDP. Sancar continued: "We are full of pain and anger, but our determination to adhere to democratic politics is just as great as this pain and anger. The HDP is aware that the government wants to hold on to power through incited provocations and that it will use any means to do so. We will continue to fight against this with determination, both politically and legally. The HDP is the greatest guarantee for a democratic future and peace in this country."

Mithat Sancar called for protest against the murder of Deniz Poyraz and for solidarity with the HDP: "Standing behind the HDP means stopping the authors of the chaos plans. No one has the right or can afford the luxury of hesitating and holding back in the process. Restraint and fear only lead to encouraging the authors of planned murders and massacres."

Regarding Deniz Poyraz, the HDP co-chair informed that the young woman was from. Mardin and had helped out at the HDP headquarters in Izmir due to her mother's illness. She was an HDP member and happened to be alone in the building at the time of the attack. Her murder was an attack on the entire HDP.”

HDP co-chairwoman Pervin Buldan is already on her way to Izmir, and Mithat Sancar will travel there tomorrow for Deniz Poyraz's funeral.