Peace should not be part of bargain: HDP co-chair Demirtaş

The ongoing efforts to find the Kurdish problem a peaceful solution should not be a part of a political bargain, the Peoples’ Democracy Party (HDP) co-leader Selahattin Demirtaş says The ongoing efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem should not be part of a “political bargain,” Peoples’ Democracy Party (HDP) co-leader Selahattin Demirtaş has said in an interview with daily Hürriyet.

“The issue of peace should be freed from being part of a political gain, or a piece of bargaining material for the AKP [the ruling Justice and Development Party],” Demirtaş said, while commenting on a fresh draft code from the government that suggests major steps in the Kurdish issue.

The HDP’s stance is set to be critical for the Aug. 10 presidential elections, as the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have named Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu as their joint candidate. The AKP, meanwhile, is strongly expected to declare Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as its candidate on July 1.

The Interior Ministry has recently prepared a seven item draft code that is expected to include a legal guarantee that actors involved in the process will not be tried in the future, as well as a smoothing of the process to allow outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants to return.

However, speaking to Hürriyet, Demirtaş expressed his skepticism over possible steps. “The prime minister has made some moves before all elections and took back everything that he gave to society. He continued ruling society with an authoritarian attitude that limits freedoms,” he said, while still welcoming the...