JINHA

NEWS CENTER – Last night, on the eve of Turkey's election, HDP leaders issued repeated and increasingly urgent calls for crowds to return to their homes. Protestors in Diyarbakır were in the streets and honking their horns until late into the night last night.

On Friday, a double bombing on a Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) rally in the city of Diyarbakır wounded 416 and killed 4. HDP general co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş called on the people to remain calm and to resist the attempt to provoke them into uprising. Citizens used noise demos and drove around the city honking their horns in reaction to the attack.

On Saturday, the people remained in the streets throughout the day. Bombing victims Ramazan Yıldız and Necati Kurul were buried in funerals with mass attendance and NGOs organized a march to the site of the bombing to leave flowers. Groups of youth continued to gather the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) building and roamed throughout the city, chanting slogans.

Towards evening, Selahattin Demirtaş directly called once again for all people in Diyarbakır to return to their homes. He warned that citizens should in no way listen to rumors that there would be a "celebration" of the election results. He said that the party would not sanction any celebrations until all votes were fully counted.

As night fell, the sound of noise demonstrations intensified. In nearly every neighborhood of the city, citizens were roaming the streets or standing on their balconies banging on pots and pans. Various groups flowed in and out of İstasyon Square, the site of the massacre, and marched throughout the downtown Ofis district chanting "the killer is Erdoğan."

Around 7:30, gunmen attacked a café that was displaying HDP posters. In the wake of the attack, Democratic Regions Party (DBP) co-chair Kamuran Yüksek repeated the call for citizens to return to their homes and remain cool-headed.

"They want to use provocations to start things tonight and arrest those who will be on duty in the elections tomorrow. You must not be provoked," he said.

"We are inviting all our people to go home, and we are demanding that with the first light tomorrow, they go to the polls and vote," said the Diyarbakır DBP organization in a written statement.

(gc/fk/cm)