ANKARA - Stating out that 295 people were detained and 61 people were arrested in a month, HDP Law and Human Rights Commission Co-Spokesperson Nuray Özdoğan said: "For the safety of the election, Süleyman Soylu should be discharged first."

 

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Law and Human Rights Commission Co-Spokesperson Nuray Özdoğan held a press conference at the party's Headquarters regarding the detention operations based in Amed, Ankara and Istanbul. Noting that the government calls everyone "terrorists" except itself, Özdoğan said: "Operations against our party and all opponents, carried out by the AKP judiciary and law enforcement, continue to increase as we enter the election process."

 

295 DETENTIONS AND 61 ARRESTS

 

Expressing that 295 detentions and 61 arrests were carried out  in the last month in the operations against party members, Özdoğan said: “This number is estimated to be higher. The pressure and cruelty increased on the eve of this ruling, which included all state institutions, the judiciary, law enforcement, governorships in the election work, used public buildings as election offices, turned the budget of our people and the money collected for earthquake victims into the election budget. There is a reason for this, of course. Survey results on elections. Their anxiety has increased."

 

'SOYLU SHOULD BE DISCHARGED'

 

Referring to Süleyman Soylu's "coup" for the May 14 elections, Özdoğan continued as follows: "On April 26, AKP Deputy Chairperson Binali Yıldırım said: 'This election is an election for the struggle for independence against the invaders.' On April 29, hundreds of thousands of armed men Süleyman Soylu, who is the chief of the personnel of the police, the gendarmerie and the armed guard and still continues to serve as the Ministry of Interior, described the General Elections of May 14 as a "coup attempt." For the security of the election, Süleyman Soylu should be dismissed as the Minister of Interior first. In his speech in Ankara on May 1, AKP President Erdoğan said, 'My nation will not surrender this country to a president with the support of Qandil.' Subsequently, on May 2, Erdogan's Chief Advisor, Mehmet Uçum, who also played an important role in the attempts to deconstitutionalize this country, said: 'The change in power in the 2023 elections will be a blow to Turkey's full independence.' These statements have been re-served and repeated in the press. We would like to draw your attention to the fact that the arrests in the nature of political genocide, which we mentioned above, increased after these statements."