Both the HDP and the PKK are "enemies of the people, nature and humanity,’’ Evrensel newspaper cited MHP deputy chair Semih Yalcin as saying on Saturday. "The HDP/PKK terror organization is a horde of political pests, which must be eradicated as a whole.’’

Yalcin’s remarks arrive amid a fresh row between the HDP and MHP, which began when the MHP leader and ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) junior coalition partner, Devlet Bahceli, on Friday called for the closure of the pro-Kurdish party.

The HDP responded by saying that it would be in Turkey’s best interest for the ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to "shut his mouth,’’ instead of calling for the HDP’s closure.

The Turkish government accuses the HDP of having links to PKK, which has led to the prosecutions of thousands of party members and some leaders. The HDP denies such links, but Ankara has maintained a crackdown on the group that has intensified after the July 2016 coup attempt.

The PKK is an armed group that has been in war in Turkey for almost 40 years and is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara, the EU and the United States.

"There are many concrete and established (pieces of) evidence that this party is a crime ring,’’ Yalcin said, noting that there was no place in Turkey for murderous hers that commit inhuman crimes.’’

Meanwhile, Turkish Twitter has erupted with reactions to the MHP deputy’s remarks.

Yalcin’s call for the eradication of the HDP constitutes a hate crime, one Twitter user said, calling for the matter to be taken to the ECHR.

"Good idea,’’ photographer Firat Erez responded. "Maybe the MHP will be faced with the same fate as the Golden Dawn in Greece,’’ he wrote, referring to the closure of the far-right party earlier this year.

"They will think twice before they speak,’’ he added.

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