Demirtas answered dpa’s questions via his lawyer on the fifth anniversary of his imprisonment over terrorism charges, dpa international reported.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “does not represent the entirety of Turkey”, he said.
The former co-chair of the left-wing Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) was arrested in 2016, alongside his co-chair Figen Yuksekdag and several HDP deputies, over alleged ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey designates as terrorist.
“Neither I nor our party has any direct or indirect ties or relations with the PKK,” Demirtas told dpa, adding that the pro-Kurdish party stands for democratic and peaceful means.
Erdogan has “not shied away from directing feelings of hatred and vengeance” towards Demirtaş, he said, speaking about the case where he faces up to 142 years in prison on charges of membership in a terrorist organisation and terrorist propaganda.
Demirtas is also indicted in a case against the HDP, where the prosecutor for Turkey’s Court of Cassation seeks to shut down the party and ban hundreds of its top officials from politics.
The case to shut down the HDP is “part of an operation to intimidate the opposition”, Demirtas told dpa. According to the Kurdish politician, Erdogan personally tasked prosecutors and judges for the case, and holds the judiciary under his control. “In this sense, it is not possible for there to be a just trial or a lawful verdict,” he said.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Grand Chamber has ruled that Turkey was in violation of Demirtas’s rights, and that his arrest had been “politically-motivated”. The top court also ruled for the immediate release of Demirtas, but Turkey has not complied.
HDP deputy Tulay Hatimogullari, speaking at the budget hearings in parliament on Thursday, said Turkey’s relations with the European Union would not improve “as long as the Demirtas ruling is not implemented”.
“We are all paying the price of the law being trampled underfoot,” Demirtas's wife, Basak Demirtaş said in a video message she shared for the anniversary.
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