BDP: KCK operations still going on

ANF – Ankara 17.11.2013 – Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Commission for Justice and Human Rights has released a statement pointing out that in recent times the arrest of activists and politicians suspected of alleged membership of the Union of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK) has increased despite this time being done in “silence”.

The statement said among other things that the arrests are aimed at weakening the BDP in the upcoming municipal elections. Here’s the full version of the statement:

In October and November 2013 as part of the KCK operations – in the cities of Istanbul, Diyarbakır, Dersim, Şırnak, Hakkari, Urfa, Batman and Van a total of 158 people were arrested. We as BDP declare that these political operations are not legitimate from a legal point of view. In such conditions, it is not possible that the current process could positively proceed in the absence of a positive legislative changes with regard to freedom of thought, opinion and organization. Even today, thousands of political prisoners are still being held hostage in Turkey’s prisons. Since 2009, the Turkish government persists in wanting to resolve the issue with “security” tools, with arrests and prison sentences. The arrest operations carried out on the basis of exclusively political reasons, and despite the absence of legal requirements, aim at  weaken our party ahead of the municipal elections. The juridical powers should stop these operations with immediate effect and proceed to the release of all political prisoners.