The Justice and Development Party (AK Party)'s Diyarbakır deputy Galip Ensarioğlu said some mayors of districts in the predominantly Kurdish-populated provinces governed by the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) are obliged to receive medical reports on duty due to pressure applied by party officials over "autonomy" claims.
"I know even some mayors who went to Ankara by taking medical reports. That sounds funny, however people are dying there. Sooner or later, these problems will be finished. Good sense will prevail in those places," he said during a TV interview on CNN Türk on Wednesday.
On the night of the June 7 elections, the HDP was expected to address the Kurdish issue and hold its pledge to disarm the PKK terrorist organization with its 13.12 percent of the vote and 80 deputies in Parliament.
Yet, the party's standing has fallen with some losing faith in the party's ability to fulfill its policies after they failed to distance themselves from the PKK. Moreover, both party officials and party affiliates have advocated self-rule efforts and several terror activities including digging ditches, blocking roads and clashing with security forces, conducted by the terrorist organization's youth wing, the Patriotic Revolutionist Youth Movement (YDG-H), in several districts of southeastern provinces.
Mayors from those provinces, including Van, Şırnak, Mardin, Batman, Hakkari, Muş and Diyarbakır, allegedly claimed self-rule in August. Numerous co-mayors who have been charged with making self-rule claims were either detained or arrested. Both HDP members and their fellow members from the HDP-affiliated Democratic Regions Party (DBP) have made poignant remarks on the issue as well.
However, in the Nov. 1 elections, the HDP's failure to fulfill its promises caused them to lose votes. The party received 10.8 percent of the vote and 59 seats in Parliament, which means its total votes are 1 million less than its gains in the previous elections.
Nevertheless, one might claim that the HDP is stagnant when it comes to criticizing itself and is reportedly trying to punish AK Party voters in several districts such as the Gürbüz neighborhood of the Hani district in Diyarbakır, by cutting off water and not collecting garbage.
