PM Erdoğan accuses Kurdish politicians of ‘hypocrisy’

There seems no end in sight to escalating tension between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and pro-Kurdish politicians, with both sides accusing each other of being hypocritical over the prospects of the stalled peace process.

Without citing his name openly, Erdoğan pushed Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) co-leader Selahattin Demirtaş again June 6, declaring the latter “shameless” for remarks in which he said some of the families protesting in Diyarbakır against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for having allegedly “kidnapped” their children were being paid to do so by the intelligence organization.

“It is a very awful thing. There are all kinds of tricks among them; there is lying, slander and everything,” Erdoğan said in a speech delivered on the occasion of a collective opening ceremony.

“They couldn’t take true democracy and true freedom, they couldn’t handle it,” Erdoğan said. “If we are going to have peace prevail in this country, then we will build it based on mutual respect,” he said, in an apparent reference to politicians from the BDP and its sister party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). According to the prime minister, they are not defending peace with deeds, but are only for peace with words.

The issue of “abducted” children has come onto the country’s agenda after more than a dozen families commenced a sit-in protest in front of Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality and the government asked the BDP and the HDP to take action on the issue.

The HDP and the BDP are sincerely working for the good sake of the process with the purpose of securing the permanent return of all youngsters on Kandil...