Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Diyarbakır deputy Altan Tan criticized the PKK for attempting to take credit for the HDP's votes and his own party for turning into a political party that represents Turkish leftists.
Speaking on a live TV program on Tuesday, Tan stressed that the PKK made a wrong assessment after the June 7 elections in which the HDP garnered 13 percent of the vote. "In my opinion the PKK's wrong assessment is that they thought all of the HDP's votes were at the same time support for itself. It turned out the opposite," Tan contended.
The Diyarbakır deputy also levied criticism at his own party.
Underscoring that the HDP's party grassroots are conservative Kurds, Tan said it transformed into a party that represents Turkish leftists.
While the HDP fails to keep a distance from the PKK terrorist organization and condemn its bloody attacks, Tan acknowledged that Kurds do not want an armed struggle to protect its rights. Tan had previously come under fire for his criticism of the PKK and the HDP as well. Some had slammed Tan for his statements and attacked him on social media. Following yesterday's remarks, the same attack took place.
Daily Sabah reached out to Tan and asked him about the attack on him on social media accounts. Tan said: "They can do or say whatever they want. They can attack me if they like," Tan said. "It is obvious what I said on yesterday's program," he added and refused to further comment on the issue.
Tan, in an exclusive interview in early November had admonished the PKK for the HDP's unexpected failure in the Nov. 1 elections in which it eked out 10.7 percent of the vote to pass the national election threshold. "It was wrong that the PKK and the YDG-H [Patriotic Revolutionist Youth Movement] took the war to city centers and reduced democratic autonomy to self-defense and ditches," Tan said. Arguing that the people in these regions reacted against it on the very first day, Tan expressed his dissatisfaction with the PKK, further insisting on the mistake.
Tan added that the middle class in Diyarbakır, which according to him makes up 70 percent of the population, was scared of the PKK digging ditches and shutting down shops. He had previously argued that 84.2 percent of Kurds did not find it appropriate to dig ditches as part of the "so-called revolutionary people's war."
PKK sets 3 schools, family counseling center on fireAs counterterror operations continue to crack down on the terrorist organization, terrorists yesterday set three schools and a family-counseling center on fire in the Nusaybin district of Mardin province.
While two schools were burnt to the ground, another was damaged greatly. The family counseling center was also burned down. The attacks came as reports indicated recently that an extensive operation is planned in the district. Reports say that preparations for new operations in Şırnak's İdil and Mardin's Nusaybin districts are ongoing.
Recent reports also hinted at the possibility of an extensive operation in İdil as the National Education Ministry asked 1,200 teachers in the district to attend seminars in various provinces. The PKK has turned the district into a battlefield with booby traps and ditches.
Locals in İdil also started to flee the region following reports that the government plans to launch a comprehensive operation.
Nusaybin is another district where the PKK presence has led the government to take military action. Terrorists reportedly set up 7 tons of explosives in six neighborhoods. The National Education Ministry also asked teachers in Nusaybin to leave the district to attend seminars.
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