The representatives of the 24 civil society organizations, including the Socialist Party (SP), the Turkish Communist Party (TKP), the Labor Party (EMEP), the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP), some Alevi organizations, the Confederation of Public Employees Trade Unions (KESK) and the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers’ Unions (DISK), organized a sit-in in front of party headquarters under the slogan, "All of us are Kurds, all of us are members of the DTP."
Last week in operations against urban branches of the PKK, nearly 50 people were arrested. The operations were extended to various other cities yesterday, and dozens more suspected PKK members were detained.
During the protest the DTP’s deputy from Van Fatma Kurtalan thanked the participants and said that such an operation was no surprise to them. "The results of the election frightened all the authorities in Turkey, mainly the [Justice and Development Party] AK Party. They were scared of the decisiveness of the Kurds on peace," she said.
She reiterated claims that the latest operation is aimed at an organization known as the Turkey Councils (Türkiye Meclisi) but which was established according to DTP regulations. "Our women and youth organizations are organized according to the principles of the assembly. This is a requirement of our party structure as it is stated in our regulations. Such an organization is balanced and aims at the participation of as many people as possible. The administrative structure of power in Turkey has difficulties understanding it. We think making our organizational structure illegal is aimed at misleading public opinion," she said.
Some intellectuals, artists and academics including Baskin Oran, Sibel Özbudun, Ferhat Kentel, Inci Hekimoglu, Tarik Ziya Ekinci and Bilgesu Erenus also issued an open letter to the public last week titled "Don’t touch the DTP." The intellectuals in their open letter suggested that the operation is a disrespectful act against the voters who voted for the DTP.
"There will be no democracy without Kurds, and there will no peace without Kurds," the petition underlined. 
The second indictment against Ergenekon, a clandestine terrorist organization charged with plotting to overthrow the government, claimed that through an affiliated organization known as the Kurdistan Democratic Confederation (KCK), the PKK helped Ergenekon’s cause.
The indictment claimed that the main purpose of the KCK is to first create councils and structures inside cities that would be formed by PKK-affiliated individuals and organizations and install an administration that would make its own decisions and function on its own without the "need for a state." Some KCK members have hidden themselves in the ranks of the DTP, according to an Ergenekon witness named "Deniz" in the indictment. This person’s real identity is being kept secret for security purposes.
20.04.2009

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