The HDP parliament deputy Omer Ocalan reiterated on the role of Abdullah Ocalan in possible peace talks to resolve the Kurdish issue and stated that the peace process goes through Imrali, an Island where Abdullah Ocalan has been imprisoned since 1998.

“The AKP (ruling Justice and Development Party) has been in power for 18 years now. They are not only the AKP and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) that persecute the Kurds, but there are also a series of radical, mafia and anti-Kurdish movements in Turkey that do the same, Omar Ocalan, the HDP representative from Sanliurfa, explained in response to a question about the fate of the AKP in wake of the splits from the party.

The AKP (ruling Justice and Development Party) is in fact the executor of the views of other movements in Turkey, and it is wrong to think that other people and parties are concerned about the Kurdish issue," said Omer Ocalan, also an Abdullah Ocalan’s nephew.

He continued: "It is true that the two movements led by former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Ali Babacan, a former minister, have separated from the of the Justice and Development Party; but as long as they were in the party, they pursued the strictest policies against the Kurds. Davutoglu was one of the perpetrators of the trench warfare in the Kurdish regions of Turkey in 2015 and 2016, which destroyed a number of cities, killed scores of Kurdish youth and displaced hundreds of thousands.”

"It is wrong to think that Davutoglu and Ali Babacan want rights and democracy for the Kurds. This may be true for Turkey, but the history of their actions shows that they do not follow such a policy. When it comes to the Kurds, they join forces and they do not believe in the rights of the Kurds,” the HDP deputy further said.

The Sanliurfa representative in the Turkish parliament noted that former Turkish governments had acted against the Kurds through a policy of assimilation and white genocide, and today they pursue the same racist anti-Kurdish behavior and policy in the name of Islamism.

Omar Ocalan acknowledged: "Formerly, the hostile policy of the Republican Peoples’ Party (CHP) against the Kurds was a kind of cultural and racial confrontation, and today the AKP intends to strike at the Kurds through its religious policy and will not refrain from any action."

Referring to the Kurdish reciprocal action in this regard, he said: "In the meantime, the Kurds in Turkey must reach a specific strategy. The AKP is in power today and another party will take office tomorrow; which will not be fundamentally different from each other on the Kurdish issue. Therefore, any policy of the Kurdish parties and movements in Turkey can lead to a unified approach in Turkey.

Omar Ocalan emphasized: The ruling party has taken the control of all independent political, social and economic institutions. This power must be taken from the party and the government and distributed. The role of the government in the last century has been marked by massacres, imprisonment and assimilation against the Kurds, and in the present century they have not changed their policy and continue to do so.”

He added: "The era of the AKP decline has arrived. Turkey will no longer develop with this party. It is this party that leads all anti-Kurdish movements in Turkey. Kurdish politicians need to be vigilant and plan for the post-AKP era.”

In response to the question why your party fails to win the majority of the Kurdish votes in Turkey, the deputy explained: “The HDP has been for liberty in the political arena for nearly ten years. Freedom has been at stake for nearly a hundred years in the wake of the assimilation policies and the Kurds are not allowed to think about unity under common interests. Different governments have used different political, security and military policies to prevent the Kurds from having unity.”

"It is quite natural if all Kurds do not vote for a party (Kurdish party) and feel free to choose, but the central governments have sought and planned to create disputes. We are working and fighting for the identity, language and rights of the Kurds in Turkey. There is a lot of oppression against the HDP,” the deputy also said to KurdPress.

Omar Ocalan added: "It is true that we are a legal party in Turkey, but we collect our votes from inside the fire. Everything is against our party. I am sure that if there is no government oppression and pressure against the HDP, it will be able to win 90% of the Kurdish vote in Turkey.”

The HDP representative in the Turkish Parliament stated: “The HDP has declared that it is a party for the whole of Turkey and does not leave the political arena and does not limit itself to the Kurds; but to achieve the rights of the Kurds in Turkey it is necessary to introduce the rights of the Kurds to other Turkey citizens.”

"It is true that all other Turkish citizens vote for the HDP, but our party gets ninety-five percent of its votes from the Kurds. However, we should win the votes of others, such as democrats, leftists, socialists, feminists and the youth," he said.

Omar Ocalan added: "Even in a free Kurdistan, the HDP can not claim to win 100% of the Kurdish votes as society has different social and cultural characteristics, but the reality is that the HDP tries for the justice and freedom of the Kurds in Turkey and would not give up its politics.”

Answering the question if there was an attempt to continue the peace project between the government and the Kurdish movements in Turkey, the representative said: "Thousands of Kurds have been killed and millions have been displaced in the last 100 years. Hundreds of villages have been destroyed. The histories of Dersim and Zilan and the fate of Sheikh Saeed and others have all shown Turkey's policy towards the Kurds. However, the Kurds have always wanted negotiation and peace.”

He ultimately said: "War, bloodshed and imprisonment deepen the problems and take us away from the solution; so it is necessary for the government to act more responsibly towards the Kurds. At present, there is no effort for peace by the government, but what will happen in the future? No one knows.”

Reporter’s code: 50101