Demirtaş: Trust yourselves, not us
HDP’s co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş, after his meeting with the representatives of Armenian, Rum, Assyrian and Jewish societies, answered the questions of Yetvart Danzikyan, the chief editor of Agos.
On the live-streamed interview, Demirtaş assessed the current issues and developments.
Talking about the blackout of Bugün TV and Kanaltürk, which are in possession of İpek Koza Media Group, Demirtaş said, “They seize other people’s properties by brutal force, but it is not surprising when you look at what AKP has been doing.” He also added that he will go to İpek Koza’s building as an act of solidarity.
Pointing out the media embargo on HDP, he said that there was also embargo before the election on June 7 and he doesn’t attend TV shows, because they don’t invite HDP MPs to their shows.
Ankara bombing
Danzikyan asked about the role of the state in Ankara massacre and Demirtaş replied as the following: “When I said that the state is a killer, they all took offense. However, thanks to the efforts of some journalists, some facts are revealed. They all had information about the attack. Not all the state officials are in this of course, dark forces of the state do this. There has always been gladio within Turkish republic and AKP made use of it. Recently, they started to use ISIS forces as hit-men. It is impossible to realize this attack without the support of government and the president.” He also added that they still try to make people believe that HDP is responsible for Suruç and Ankara bombings.
“We can form a coalition if we can come to the common grounds”
Talking about his predictions about the election results, Demiştaş said, “There will be a coalition, but it is too early to talk about which parties will be a part of the coalition. We can form a coalition if we can come to the common grounds. Peace in and outside the country is what really matters. It seems that we can constitute peace more easily, if the coalition wouldn’t be formed by AKP and MHP.”
Pointing out that the negotiation process should be more transparent and there should be third-parties to monitor the process in order to continue with the resolution process, Demirtaş referred to the parliament: “Parliament should participate in the process by forming a committee. In this way, not the government but the committee would deal with the process.”
“Cease-fire should be reciprocal”
Danzikyan asked about his position on KCK’s attitude and Demirtaş said, “We should try to make the cease-fire reciprocal,” and pointed out that KCK’s unilateral cease-fire isn’t enough to stop clashes.
At the meeting with the representatives of Rum, Armenian, Assyrian and Jewish societies, they asked Demirtaş how they can trust him and Danzikyan asked about this question. Demirtaş said, “My reply to this kind of questions is this: don’t trust us. Don’t trust a spokesman of our party; instead, become a part of the struggle. Don’t vote for HDP by trusting us; vote for us if you trust yourself.”
“I have barely convinced my daughters”
Danzikyan asked, “What did your daughters do, when they learned that there will be an election on November 1?” Demirtaş said, “I cannot explain them anymore, they are always complaining. They hate elections. I have barely convinced them by saying that there won’t be any elections for a long time after November 1. I hope I won’t be proved wrong.”
