Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım yesterday accused the pro-PKK Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) of receiving orders from the PKK terrorist organization.
Speaking at an election rally in the eastern Kars province, Yıldırım criticized the HDP for maintaining ties with the PKK and receiving instructions from the headquarters of the terrorist organization in Mount Qandil in northern Iraq. "The harm the HDP did to the Kurds is immeasurable," Yıldırım said.
He said the HDP has been unable to become a political party and failed to rescue itself from the "captivity of the PKK."
"They are receiving votes and support from you, my Kurdish brothers, but they receive orders from Qandil," Yıldırım said, urging people to not support them.
He also said foreign imperial powers have a plan against Turkey and the region. According to that alleged plan, Yıldırım said these powers are trying to establish a state through the blood of Kurds. However, Kurds and Turks are brothers and they remain united, he declared.
Formed in 1978, the PKK terrorist group has been fighting the Turkish government for an independent state. Its terror campaign has caused the deaths of more than 40,000 people. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union.
The PKK resumed its decades-old campaign in July 2015 after a three-year cease-fire collapsed. Since then more than 1,200 people, including security personnel and civilians, have lost their lives in PKK attacks.