Turkey- HDP suffers from lack of popular support in Diyarbakr

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) People’s Democratic Party (HDP) co-chairs Selahattin Demirta and Kamuran Yüksek made a joint statement on March 1 calling the residents of Diyarbakir to march toward Sur district where a curfew has been implemented since December 2.

Demirta announced at a press conference “We do not view a 24-hour war being waged in the center of a city for three months as an ordinary situation. AllDiyarbakrresidents should rise up in order to lift the blockade in Sur. Everyone should march toward Sur from their residences on March 2 at 4 p.m.” He also added that lifting the “blockade” and the curfew would end the clashes in the district and bring peace to Sur.

The HDP’s call was responded to with harsh criticism from the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoan. On March 2 Prime Minister Ahmet Davutolu accused Demirta of “plotting against the country” and “collaborating with terrorists to drag Turkey into chaos.” President Erdoan also criticized the call and said it “smells like an invitation to terror” during a visit to Nigeria.

HDP’s announcement was also immediately responded to by the Governor’s Office in Diyarbakir with the imposition of a ban prohibiting “any individuals other than permanent residents of Sur to enter the district starting from 12 p.m. on March 2.”

Moreover Demirta’s calls have not resonated well with the residents of the city as they provided no major support during yesterday’s demonstrations; the protests were overshadowed by masked groups equipped with stones molotov cocktails fireworks and various other explosives that were seen attacking the police while security forces responded with tear gas and water canons.

Director of the USAK Center for Security Studies Hasan Selim Özertem said yesterday’s event indicated the erosion of popular support for the HDP. Özertem stated “The clashes between the PKK and the security forces since last summer undermined the conduct of a feasible peace process. People seem to have rejected the PKK’s violent methods and claims to sovereignty since then as these incidents disrupted the daily life causing public disorder and instability. The PKK was digging canals and building barriers in city centers of southeastern districts of Turkey moreover collecting taxes and trying citizens at the so-called courts of the PKK which are completely unacceptable for a sovereign state like Turkey.” Özertem also pointed out that today’s overt security- policies should be consolidated with a more socio-political approach.

“People did not support Demirta’s call for a march towards Sur because they do not approve of the PKK’s violent methods. They want peace and normalization. The names of the PKK and the HDP have become increasingly associated with one another over the past few months. Yesterday’s event was momentous because it has clearly showed that the HDP has to embrace a more political spirit and seek a resolution not in violence but in the parliament. This is the only way that they can grapple with the 10 percent electoral threshold which they can barely surpass at the moment as demonstrated by recent polls” Özertem added.

The peace process between the government and the PKK ended following the elections on June 6. Severe clashes have been taking place between PKK militants and security forces particularly in southern districts of Sur Cizre Silopi and Nusaybin.

So far counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations led by the government have been implemented in a close collaboration between the police gendarmerie and the military. During the clashes between the PKK and security forces that began last summer more than 1200 PKK targets have been neutralized according to the Turkish General Staff.