President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan criticized the pro-PKK Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) for pledging to release prisoners convicted of terrorism charges, including ex-party chairman Selahattin Demirtaş.
Former HDP lawmaker and Ağrı Mayor Sırrı Sakık recently announced that his party plans general amnesty if they win the elections, as he urged main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu to reveal what they have been discussing behind closed doors.
The HDP is not officially part of the CHP-led Nation Alliance, but the pro-PKK party tacitly supports it and has not nominated a presidential candidate.
"There are 350,000 prisoners and some in exile and we're thinking of issuing amnesty for their return," Sakık was quoted as saying by Turkish media outlets, referring to prisoners convicted for their ties with the PKK terrorists.
"This is a state governed by the rule of law," Erdoğan told broadcaster CNN Türk, adding that releasing people convicted of terrorism charges would be unlawful. He continued by saying that Demirtaş was one of the people who provoked the Kobani riots and led to the death of 51 innocent lives.
"They're exploiting the deaths of our Kurdish children," he said.
He noted that he has faith that the Turkish nation will not let terrorist supporters emerge victorious in the elections.
"The CHP and their partners have surrendered to the HDP and PKK/YPG's divisive and anti-Türkiye agenda," Erdoğan said, adding that the pro-PKK party has clearly proved that they are a part of the six-party alliance by not nominating a candidate.
Quake efforts continue
Türkiye intensively continues with the debris removal efforts in the quake-hit southern region, Erdoğan said.
"We continue our debris removal efforts intensively. While the construction of our permanent residences continues unabated, we have promised to complete them within one year," Erdoğan said during his address to earthquake victims and search and rescue teams in the capital Ankara.
Türkiye plans to construct enough buildings in a year to meet the needs of the quake victims. Erdoğan previously pledged that 319,000 houses would be built in the first year and 650,000 in total.
On Feb. 6, magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck 11 Turkish provinces — Adana, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Şanlıurfa.
Around 14 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the quakes, as well as many others in northern Syria.
Erdoğan also said the debris removal will be completed in all provinces, except Hatay, by the start of the Eid al-Fitr holiday on April 21, marking the end of the holy Ramadan month.
"We will deliver some of the village houses until Eid al-Fitr," he added.