ISTANBUL
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday dismissed claims by the leader of pro-Kurdish party HDP, who called Saturday's attack in eastern Agri province a "fake setup" to undermine HDP’s election prospects.
On Saturday, four Turkish troops were wounded, five terrorists killed and another injured in clashes after a group of terrorists opened fire with rifles on soldiers in a village of Diyadin district.
Davutoglu's remarks came hours after Selahattin Demirtas, the co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party, or HDP, said the incident was not spontaneous clashes, but a pre-planned and rehearsed fake setup against the HDP.
"I’m saying this very clearly: Demirtas is lying and distorting facts,” Davutoglu said. “This provocation entirely came from terrorists.”
The prime minister said members of the PKK terrorist group were aiming to oppress people for political propaganda ahead of upcoming June 7 elections and security forces were there to maintain safety for local people in the Yukaritutek village, where he said an alleged activity of planting trees was being held by the HDP.
Davutoglu accused Demirtas of whitewashing the oppression in the region by the PKK by smearing the incident in Agri province.
"Turkish armed forces will do every kind of effort to maintain public order across the country and to prevent any oppression on citizens," said Davutoglu.
