URFA - HDP District Co-chair Abdullah Çiftçi said that the detainees in Halfeti are being forced to "stone the HDP buildings, set up tents in protest at their door."
Police repression against the members and administrators of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in the Halfeti district of Urfa is increasing day by day. People who introduce themselves as police call HDP members from different numbers, inviting them to have a cup of tea with them. The police who threatened the shopkeepers after HDP's visit, force the people to hang Turkish flag on their store window.
NEGOTIATION UNDER CUSTODY
HDP members who are frequently detained due to investigations launched against them told that the police are trying to negotiate with them. Party members who did not disclose their names due to security concerns, said that the police told them to stone the HDP buildings and set tents in front of the party building in protest in return for their release.
HDP District Co-Chair Abdullah Çiftçi said that it was a part of the plan to annihilate the Kurds which was decided by the National Security Council (NSC) on October 30, 2014 and put into effect on July 24, 2015. Çiftçi stated that Halfeti was chosen as a pilot region to implement this plan.
FAMILIES OF HDP MEMBERS BEING THREATENED
Stating that the pressures continued to increase after the last elections, Çiftçi said, "A new kind of pressure was applied on HDP voters. If a family member who is also a HDP voter was getting social aid or if someone in the family was working as a public servant, they threatened the family over them with cutting of the aid or losing their jobs. Anyone who goes in or out of the party building gets flagged. Police calls the families and threatens them. They also take photos of everyone we speak to and threaten them as well."
Stating that pressure is being put on people detained because they are members of the HDP, Çiftçi said: "Police tells the detainees to stone the HDP building or set up tents in front of the party building to protest the HDP in return for their release.
Underlining that this plan will never succeed, Çiftçi told that the only thing they will achieve is to make people hate them more. Çiftçi said: "Our people must respond to these practices by being more involved in the party events and supporting their party.
MA / Emrullah Acar - Ferhat Çelik