JINHA

ŞIRNEX – Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Parliamentary representative Meral Danış Beştaş, speaking to JINHA from a historic march to the besieged town of Cizre, reported that stopping the assault on Cizre is Turkey’s last chance for peace.

Police and military forces have now held the Kurdish town of Cizre under blockade for one week and killed 20 residents. Yesterday, a delegation of members of the party HDP set out for the town as clashes intensified. As soldiers set up barricades along the road and police harried the marchers with tear gas, the group took to the rough mountain paths, determined to reach Cizre.

“We’ve been on the road since yesterday; every ten minutes, they cut us off,” said Meral Danış Beştaş, speaking from the march. Meral represents the southern Turkish province of Adana for the HDP.

“In the conversations we’ve had with the people in Cizre, they are crying out, demanding that we get there, demanding support from the people,” said Meral. With security forces killing eight more residents in Cizre last night, the march gained urgency this morning. The delegation set out this morning from the town of İdil, which they had reached last night by walking along village roads after soldiers blocked the way.

Meral noted that although Parliamentary representatives have immunity in Turkey, the ruling government is now trying to remove HDP representatives’ immunity, with police viciously assaulting the HDP Parliamentary representatives on the march. She warned that the HDP and its voters are under attack.

“90% of Cizre voted for us,” said Meral, referring to Turkey’s June election. On June 7th, the HDP won a massive victory, unseating the ruling AKP from their single-party government. That was when the state began to attack many Kurdish towns, which had voted for the HDP in high numbers. “These people are facing punishment for this,” said Meral.

“In a district in Turkey, a district with a population of 100,000, there is a massacre happening right now at the hands of the state,” said Meral. “They’re killing 35-day-old babies, 70-year-old women, men, and people can’t even take their bodies to the morgue. Because people can’t take their wounded to the hospital, they sit there and watch while the wounded lose blood and are gone before their eyes. This isn’t something from a movie, this isn’t a dramatic film; it’s a reality, and as long as we don’t face it, we can’t bring peace to this country. How will we live together?

“There’s torture in Cizre. It’s a crime against humanity, it’s a massacre and if we don’t speak out against it, unfortunately we will miss our chance for peace,” said Meral.

(ht-pk/mg/cm)