ANKARA - Participating in the HDP Congress, families who lost their relatives adressed the government and said: “As the state ignores the HDP, HDP is expanding. People want the HDP.”

 

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) held its 5th Ordinary Grand Congress on July 3 at Ankara Sports Hall. Tens of thousands of people overfilled the hall, where there was intense participation from the region and Turkey. Many guests who were the victims of the governments in Turkey participated in the congress. The guests evaluated the congress and their demands for justice to the Mesopotamia Agency (MA).

 

'EVEN IF THEY IGNORE THE HDP, WE ARE EXPANDING'

 

Stating that HDP is the "mirror" of the people, Fakide Duman, who came from Izmir for the congress and lost her 3 children within the scope of security policies in the Kurdish Question, said: "The state says that there are no Kurds, the state should look at Kurds and be ashamed. That's enough. As the state ignores HDP, we are expanding. People want the HDP. The more they say HDP's over, the more we are growing. They are afraid of us. People can't even buy a bagel. Trying to destroy the Kurds, what the government actually did was to destroy Turkey. The government can't fulfill its responsibilities anyway, the government should be overthrown. Since the election is approaching, the pressure on HDP has increased.The state thinks that it will stop the HDP members by putting them in prison, but our people are aware of it."

 

'WE WANT OUR LEADER TO BE AMONG US'

 

Stating that they wanted peace, not war, Ümmü İşkiyan, who came to the congress from Dargeçit, said: "We do not want war, we want peace between the Turkish people and the Kurdish people. We want to see PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan in public. We are here for our leader and our prisoners. We want our leader to be among us."

 

'THEY ARE AFRAID OF HDP AND KURDS'

 

Stating that she came to the congress from Manisa, Fidan Karadağ said: “We are here for peace and our people. We are here, but we are ignored, we are killed, we are persecuted, our children are killed, they have no graves. All mothers are heartbroken. They are afraid of the HDP and the Kurds. If the Kurds unite, all problems will be solved. The state send Kurds to prisons all the time and then they say that they 'cleared off Kurds, but we are here and our struggle is continuing.”

 

'OUR PURSUIT FOR JUSTICE WILL CONTINUE'

 

Ferit Şenyaşar, whose father and two brothers were killed and injured by the bodyguards and relatives of AKP Urfa MP İbrahim Halil Yıldız on June 14, 2018 in Suruç district of Urfa, also participated in the congress. Stating that they will continue to express the injustice they were exposed to from all platforms, Şenyaşar said: “We will continue to tell those who did this injustice to us everywhere. We started this struggle with my mother. Our struggle is currently being followed by millions of people, we will never despair and we will keep our faith. We will not stay at home until justice is served. We will continue to say 'Justice for the Şenyaşar family, justice for everyone'."