Turkey: Ex-KCK/PKK member blames HDP for deaths in Kobani incidents

ANKARA

A former member of the KCK/PKK terrorist organization on Thursday explained the role of the former co-chairperson of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HPD) and other party members in the deadly 2014 terror incidents which resulted in 37 people’s deaths.

Only identified with the initials K.G., he claimed that people would not have died in the incidents of Oct. 6-8, 2014, known as the Kobani incidents, if Selahattin Demirtas and other party members had not called on people to participate in street protests.

K.G. noted that the protests, during which Molotov cocktails, stones, fireworks and improvised explosives were used, and which the organization members refer to as “serhildan,” were planned by the KCK/PKK.

“The organization prefers multiple concepts. This involves the participation of the political party, youth recruitment branch, and the armed organization members,” K.G. said.

“However much they make statements as public initiatives or representatives of political parties, serhildan activities are organizational ones that begin with the instructions of the administration.

K.G. also claimed that Demirtas was instructed to tell people to join the street protests in order to start a civil war that is similar to the one in Syria.

“This is not begging. Let us join the historical resistance together. Let us do the historical resistance together so that we will have the opportunity to create a historical alliance and historical union,” Demirtas said on Sept. 30, 2014 in Turkey after his visit to Kobani, K.G. said.

The 108 suspects, referred to as “instigators” in the Kobani indictment, which was accepted by the 22nd Ankara High Criminal Court, are held responsible for the incidents that took place across Turkey on Oct. 6-8, 2014. Life sentences aggravated 38 times are demanded for each suspect.

A HDP protest call led to violence in 35 provinces and 96 districts, causing the deaths of 37 citizens -- including those distributing humanitarian aid during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

A total of 761 citizens, including 326 law enforcement officers, were wounded.

The violence triggered property damage totaling billions of Turkish liras with 197 schools burned, 268 public buildings destroyed and 1,731 houses and workplaces looted or damaged. Around 1,230 vehicles were rendered unusable.

The HDP is a party the government said is linked to the PKK terror group.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the European Union -- has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

A Turkish penal court approved indictments for 108 defendants Thursday, including former co-chairs of the HDP as part of a probe into the deadly 2014 terror incidents across the nation.

The indictments filed by the chief prosecutor’s office in Ankara demand life sentences aggravated 38 times for the defendants, of whom 27 are in custody. Six have been released on bail and 75 are actively sought by authorities.

*Writing by Dilan Pamuk in Ankara