French GUE/NGL MEP Marie-Christine Vergiat calls for an end to violence in Turkey and the resumption of peace talks.

“Since Monday, September 7, more than 300 HDP party offices have been set on fire or vandalised, including the general party headquarters in Ankara watched by the police who did not interfere.

“This outbreak of violence is no accident. It is the direct consequence of dangerous political games and the instrumentalisation of the Kurdish question for purely electoral purposes.

“The European and international press have reported on the deaths in the ranks of the army and the PKK. But what is less well known is that nearly 100 Kurdish civilians were killed in a month and that some of them were shot by police snipers for violating the curfew, including women and children. Also, in the predominantly Kurdish town of Cizre, ambulances are denied access and families are forced to keep the bodies of their dead relatives in freezers.

“This particular wave of violence began last April, continued with the Diyarbakir bombing on June 5th, two days before the elections, and further continued with the attack in Suruk that caused the death of 32 young socialist activists, who were about to bring aid to Kobanî, and injured one hundred people.

“These horrors must stop and the European Union must bring all its weight to avoid a return to civil war. The violence must stop on both sides and Tayyip Erdogan must stop playing with fire.

“The intimidation of activists, journalists and elected officials must cease; Turkish troops must withdraw from Kurdish cities. Only the peace process, which has been stalled since April, can resolve this conflict that has lasted for too long. And for that Abdullah Öcalan has to come out of solitary confinement.

“The return of peace is in the interest of all communities in Turkey and it is only on that condition that the elections of November will take place in good conditions.

GUE/NGL Press Contact:

Gay Kavanagh +32 473 84 23 20