AK Party's Kurdish candidate warns about PKK election threats
Following attacks and threats in eastern Turkey by the outlawed terrorist group the PKK to intimidate eastern people into casting a vote for the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP), the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Mardin deputy candidate Orhan Miroğlu said yesterday that the PKK has been preparing a hit list for those in the region who may vote for the AK Party.
"There is a serious threat against those who vote for the AK Party. They do it consciously. They said to locals: ‘If the HDP do not manage to pass the [10 percent] threshold, a civil war will break out.' They do it in districts and villages," said Miroğlu.
He further said that when they visit villages in eastern provinces, they have to be prepared and guarded against any attacks by the PKK. "The election result in this [eastern] region will not be democratic in terms of the AK Party," he added.
With only months left until the June 7 election that has critical importance for the HDP, which hovers around the 10 percent threshold, the PKK intensified its pressure on eastern locals to push them to vote for the HDP.
The PKK sent letters to locals threatening them to not vote for the AK Party in the upcoming June 7 general elections.
"If anyone in your family votes for the AK Party or other parties, you will face the harsh consequences of it," the letters read, bearing the signature of the PKK. The threatening letters are sent to those who meet with or host AK Party officials at their homes.
"We just can't understand it, how could you take their side when the AK Party has been so bad. Either you don't grasp it or you are being paid. If what we hear is true, we'll spoil the pleasure," the letter further reads.
Also, journalist Gürkan Ata travelled to the eastern provinces of Van and Ağrı in an effort to report on the pressure on locals threatened by PKK members to cast their votes for the pro-Kurdish HDP. He said that from the day he entered the city, he was closely followed and felt threatened by the PKK. Explaining that the PKK has established a "threat team," Ata says that as he began to take photos in the street, he was abducted by team members who forced him to delete the pictures. He also said that he was physically assaulted, as PKK members were questioning him and interrogating him.The PKK, which was expected to announce its disarmament before the June elections, as its imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan ordered in his annual Nevruz message, has not put down its arms, leading to a setback in the reconciliation process between Ankara and the Kurds. The terrorist organization took up arms against Turkey in the 1980s in an attempt to carve out a separate state in eastern Turkey.
"There is a serious threat against those who vote for the AK Party. They do it consciously. They said to locals: ‘If the HDP do not manage to pass the [10 percent] threshold, a civil war will break out.' They do it in districts and villages," said Miroğlu.
He further said that when they visit villages in eastern provinces, they have to be prepared and guarded against any attacks by the PKK. "The election result in this [eastern] region will not be democratic in terms of the AK Party," he added.
With only months left until the June 7 election that has critical importance for the HDP, which hovers around the 10 percent threshold, the PKK intensified its pressure on eastern locals to push them to vote for the HDP.
The PKK sent letters to locals threatening them to not vote for the AK Party in the upcoming June 7 general elections.
"If anyone in your family votes for the AK Party or other parties, you will face the harsh consequences of it," the letters read, bearing the signature of the PKK. The threatening letters are sent to those who meet with or host AK Party officials at their homes.
"We just can't understand it, how could you take their side when the AK Party has been so bad. Either you don't grasp it or you are being paid. If what we hear is true, we'll spoil the pleasure," the letter further reads.
Also, journalist Gürkan Ata travelled to the eastern provinces of Van and Ağrı in an effort to report on the pressure on locals threatened by PKK members to cast their votes for the pro-Kurdish HDP. He said that from the day he entered the city, he was closely followed and felt threatened by the PKK. Explaining that the PKK has established a "threat team," Ata says that as he began to take photos in the street, he was abducted by team members who forced him to delete the pictures. He also said that he was physically assaulted, as PKK members were questioning him and interrogating him.The PKK, which was expected to announce its disarmament before the June elections, as its imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan ordered in his annual Nevruz message, has not put down its arms, leading to a setback in the reconciliation process between Ankara and the Kurds. The terrorist organization took up arms against Turkey in the 1980s in an attempt to carve out a separate state in eastern Turkey.
Last Update: May 24, 2015 20:26