HDP co-chair Sezai Temelli was in Dogubeyazit district of Ağrı province as part of the campaign for the local elections scheduled for 31 March.

The HDP co-chair addressed the crowd and said: “Different peoples can leave together with different languages, different cultures. Yet, someone said no to social peace.

Isolation

Temelli underlined that it is Turkey and not only Mr Öcalan to be under isolation.

“Since 2015 [when the government abruptly interrupted talks with Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan] isolation increased - said Temelli - not just in Imrali but in the whole country. This has meant an increase in lawlessness and this lawlessness involved everything. Yes, when we look back on it today, we see that lawlessness has become the norm. This lawlessness has become so ordinary that it is no longer possible to speak of justice, judicial independence. Today, it is not possible to talk about justice in any living space. It is not possible to talk about justice in prisons. We are in such difficult conditions. In spite of this we will continue our struggle.”

Leyla Güven and hunger strikes

Temelli reminded that DTK Co-chair and HDP MP Leyla Güven is leading the struggle to break isolation and is now on her 117th day of hunger strike and her health is deteriorating quickly. “This deterioration – he said - can result in irreparable consequences. That's why we cannot be late. We have to fulfill our responsibility. We must do our part and become Leyla Güven’s voice everywhere.”

Temelli commended Amed MP Dersim Dag and five others HDP members who went on indefinite hunger strike on Sunday “to break this silence” and reiterated the one demand of the hunger strikers, which is the demand of the people. I call once again on the Minister of Justice. This is not an issue for an electoral campaign. This is an issue of justice, law and peace.”

The demand of the hunger strikers, said Temelli, “is very clear: Mr. Öcalan should be allowed to meet with his family and lawyers on a regular basis. Failure to fulfill this demand is to ignore the law and justice. We're not the only ones saying that. The Parliamentary Union of the Council of Europe confirmed this in its decisions, the CPT is working on these issues.”

Local elections

Temelli addressed the issue of local elections, scheduled on 31 March.

“We're going to local elections. We want to run our cities. We want to have a city of women, laborers and young people. We want to bring our peoples to power. We want to win our cities back and remove this trustee mindset that ignores the will of the people. We will achieve all this. Together we will save this country from this shameful state of things.”

Temelli added: “These local elections are of critical importance for Turkey. Far for being just a local election, they will define the next phase of the struggle for democracy in this country.”

Economic crisis

Touching upon the economic crisis, Temelli said that this “is getting deeper. Today, all the attempts to cover up the economic crisis show that the country is on the verge of collapsing, economically. The increase in inflation and the resulting price increase brought the minimum wage below poverty limits within a month. War policies are driving this country to an even deeper crisis.”

Temelli also reminded that the “Kurdish people accounts for the majority of the unemployed people in this country. We will reverse this situation. We will create cooperatives, everyone will be a member of the cooperatives, we won’t let our children suffer from hunger. We will ensure health rights to everyone. Look here, they closed the Ayse Zarakolu Hospital. We will fulfil our duties and make health available for everybody.”