Referring to the HDP policies in Turkey, the Secretary General of the Right and Freedom Party (HAK-PAR), Latif Opozdemir told KurdPress that his party does not consider the People's Democratic Party as a national and democratic party. “Even though a portion of the Turkey Kurdish votes is given to the HDP, it does not mean the party is a Kurdish party and makes politics for the Kurds in the country.

He continued to say that “I think the HDP is a Turkish party and they themselves say the same. We do not see the HDP as a Kurdish party because it has never expressed the rights of the Kurds and has occupied itself with Turkish politics.

"It is a great mistake to recognize the HDP as a Kurdish party even though Turkey recognizes the party. That is because before HDP was established, Turkish deputy foreign minister announced that the HDP was created by the Turkish Intelligence Organization (MIT) and Abdullah Ocalan (the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKK), and the issue has not been rejected by the HDP yet.

Latif Opozdemir further stated that "As the Hakpar Party (HAK-PAR), we think that the PDP is a movement created by the Turkish government to prevent Kurds from attaining their national and democratic gains.

Referring to the Hakpar policy in Turkey, the Secretary-General of the party said: "After the First World War and the division of Kurdistan, each part of Kurdistan has its own political situation. Although the Kurds have a nationality, they have different destinies after Sykes–Picot. The Kurds continues to pursue freedom and democracy in each part. The Kurds need to have their policies in any part.”

“Our party is a democratic movement established by Turkish law. In our party plan we call for a federal and decentralized Turkey. We believe in a non-violent policy in Turkey and believe that Kurds should achieve their rights in Turkey through a peaceful and democratic approach,” he further continued.

Latif Opozdemir noted that the Kurds should also have equal rights in Turkey as a second Turkish nationality, and that the Kurdish language should be officially taught from primary school to university.

Referring to the PKK policies, the party leader said HAKpar is against radicalism and violence, and it does not confirm the PKK policies in no way and that “in our view, the PKK has made great damage to Turkey Kurds and the Kurds in the other parts of the country.”

In response to the question about the party's positions on Turkey attacks on Kurdistan Region, the Secretary-General of the Right and Freedom Party (HAK-PAR) said: We issued a statement about the Turkish attacks on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the loss of several civilians in the region. In this statement we have explicitly stated that Turkey should first stop its military action in Kurdistan Region, because these measures only harm civilians. Turkish government has no right to enter the territory of Kurdistan Region according to international law and launch military strikes in the region, because Kurdistan is an official region in Iraq's constitution and we are opposed to the actions by Turkey.

Latif Opozdemir also told KurdPress in the interview that the party believes Turkey's attack on the Kurdistan region is due only to the PKK actions. If the PKK withdraws from Kurdistan Region, the Turkish government will no longer have any excuse to interfere in the region.

“If the PKK leaves Kurdistan Region, Turkey has no legitimacy to stay in the Kurdish region. In the statement, we have asked Turkey to stop its military actions and withdraw from the Kurdistan region, and we also asked the PKK to leave the region,” he ultimately said.

Reporter’s code: 50101