Co-spokesman and Izmır deputy of Turkey’s Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Ertugrul Kurkcu said the attacks launched by PKK are "not a matter of condemnation,” while attending a live broadcast with the BBC World television channel on Thursday.
Answering the question if he condemns the terror attacks which PKK have carried out in the past few weeks Kurkcu said “This is not a matter of condemnation or condoning. This is something else."
"We have to first see what’s happening. What’s happening is a 90 year struggle of which 30 years is now between [the] Turkish state and the Kurdish insurgency. Therefore, if you have insurgency, it means that you have violence and you have counter violence,” he continued.
After the Turkish general election on June 7, PKK’s umbrella organisation Group of Communities (KCK) issued a statement on July 11 declaring that its truce with the Turkish government had ended and threatened Turkey with further attacks.
Since July 11, at least 22 security officers and six civilians have been killed by PKK and its youth wing Patriotic Revolutionist Youth Movement (YDG-H).
“We have no organisational and no organic or inorganic relations with PKK. What we say is that we denounce the war situation. This is not a one sided issue,” said Kurkcu, answering a question about the relationship between HDP and PKK.
The female co-chair of HDP, Figen Yuksekdag, said on July 19 that the HDP relies on the People’s Protection Units (YPG) which Turkey considers as the Syrian affiliate of PKK.
“They say about our party - the HDP - relies on a terror organisation. I will answer those who don’t understand. We rely on those who are fighting against ISIS in Kobani and Rojava. We rely on the YPG and PYD and we see no harm in saying that,” Yuksekdag stated, speaking in the Suruc district of Turkey’s southeastern Sanliurfa province after a visit by her party to the northern Syrian town of Kobani.
