HDP lost its chance, new parties needed for Kurdish move: Minister

Turkey's pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) has lost its chance to distance itself from "terrorism" and be an interlocutor for a democratic resolution to the Kurdish question, a senior government official has claimed, calling on Kurdish citizens to establish alternative conservative, social democrat or even ethnic political parties. 

"Alternative political organizations will appear against any kind of pressure. Not only one but multiple new parties. The people of the southeast are diverse; there are those with social democratic, conservative and ethnic backgrounds. They should appear and be vocal for a solution on the democratic ground," Food and Agriculture Minister Faruk Çelik told the Hürriyet Daily News in an interview during a visit to the Doğan Media Center on Nov. 17.  

Çelik is an experienced lawmaker, representing Şanlıurfa, a southeastern Anatolian province. 

"Turkey is a country with unending problems. No one wants the arrest of elected politicians. We are against this. We are also against the arrest of journalists. But what will we do if a journalist has been engaged in unlawful acts? Or if a mayor or a lawmaker turns into a toy of an illegal organization instead of serving the people?" Çelik asked. 

Accusing the HDP of ignoring the demands of nearly 6 million people who voted for it in the 2015 elections, Çelik argued that the fact locals remained unresponsive to the arrest of HDP lawmakers and mayors showed their disapproval with the policies the pro-Kurdish party was pursuing. 

"People told them to solve this issue in parliament. They are fed up with pressure [from the Kurdistan Workers' Party]. They have understood that they have no objective of providing peace and comfort in the region," he said. ...