Turkish Kurds Should Create New Party as HDP Unable to Express People Interests

Turkey's Food and Agriculture Minister stated that Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin should create a new political party, as the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has not distanced itself from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and lost chances to represent the people.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin should create a new political party, as the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has not distanced itself from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and lost chances to represent the people, Turkey's Food and Agriculture Minister Faruk Celik said.

"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," Celik told the Hurriyet Daily News newspaper on Thursday, commenting the political situation in the Kurdish-populated areas.

He added that the HDP was ignoring demands of the Kurdish population and was not able to provide peace in the regions affected by the conflict between Ankara and the PKK, which was why people would not support it further.

The PKK is outlawed in Turkey as a terrorist organization. A ceasefire between Turkey and Kurdish militants collapsed in July 2015, prompting the Turkish authorities to launch a military operation in the Kurdish-dominated southeastern region.