The police operation against our party DTP which started in 13 provinces on 14th of April 2009 has been escalated to a very serious stage. More than 300 members, executives and activists including three vice presidents of our party have been detained. 153 of them were sent to the court and put in to the prison and the others are still under detention. The operation is still going on and the police are arresting new people almost every hour! None of these people are members of an illegal organization, but they are all members, activists and executives of our legal, legitimate and parliamentary party.
Everybody agrees that we got a clear victory at last local elections on 29 of March 2009. Despite many violations, oppressions and tricks, we almost doubled the number of our municipalities (from 56 to 98); we were the first party in 10 provinces in the east and south-east of Turkey. We could win many more provinces if there were democratic and fair elections.
After these results, many people in Turkey started to discuss the Kurdish Question and they wanted the government to launch a dialogue with the DTP for a peaceful solution. When Mr. Obama had a visit to Turkey, he had a meeting with the leader of our party Mr. Ahmet Turk, and he said that there should be a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question in Turkey.
On the other hand, we heard very dangerous statements from Prime minister, vice prime minister, The Chief of the General Staff and some other state officials stating how dangerous the success of our party is for the national security of the Turkish State.
After these statements, we can easily say that this operation is a political operation. The government and the army got very disappointed and nervous because of our success. While Mr. Erdogan expecting to win some of our provinces, we won many more and we almost doubled the number of our municipalities. So we can say that the main reason of this operation is our success, and it is a kind of revenge!
We fear that this oppression on our party will damage the belief of democratic struggle among our people and aggravate more the unstable situation in Turkey. We have committed ourselves to the democratic struggle for peace and freedom in our country! But we need the support of progressive international public opinion.
As a democratic party in Turkey we ask you to show your solidarity with our party and have a declaration against this dangerous operation. We expect that the European Parliament to react, as it had in the case of Mrs. Leyla Zana, 1995 Sakharov Prize for the Freedom of Thought.
Best regards,
Fayik YAGIZAY, DTP representative for Europe
