ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim thanked the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) who condemned an attempted coup to overthrow the existing Turkish government. Just a few hours later, simultaneous attacks were carried out on three HDP offices.
“I am thanking the presidents of all Turkish political parties, especially HDP who condemned the coup,” said Yildirim at an extraordinary session in the damaged Turkish parliament on Saturday.
“I am proud of the Turkish nationals who took to streets and altogether said no to the coup,” Yildirim added.
Within a few hours of the Yildirim’s conciliatory gesture, attacks were carried out on HDP offices in three separate locations: Osmaniye, Malatya, and Iskenderun, a local official confirmed to Rudaw.
Friday night’s attempted coup was the first attack on the parliament in the history of Turkey and the prime minister vowed, “Those who staged the coup will not get away with it. They will be punished.”
In a statement made earlier in the day, co-chair of HDP, Selahattin Demirtas condemned the coup. “We have been against coups throughout history, and if today such things happen, we will stand against it,” he said. “I emphasize that coups have never supported or endorsed democracy in Turkey.”
Demirtas also condemned the attack on the Turkish parliament building, saying “those who waged the coup attempted to target MPs who are elected by the people, this is a catastrophic event.”
“Although opposition parties within the parliament have been largely charged with outrageous accusations, yet, in response to such coups, the opposition parties have altogether condemned it, in order to help develop democracy in the country,” Demirtas continued. “Our stance is and was clear, today we stand against this coup, and such an attempted coup has no place in the policies of our party.”
Turkish lawmakers met in a rare show of political unity in the wake of an attempted military coup against the government and held an emergency session in Ankara, while hundreds of pro-government demonstrators gathered outside the parliament to protest the failed coup.
In an historical night, a faction within the Turkish military staged a coup in Ankara and Istanbul Friday night and they briefly controlled the two cities’ main airports as well as the parliament building before they were overcome by government supporters who poured into the streets, and members of the police force.
