Demirtas sees “fundamental political shift” in Kurdistan and Mideast
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey— The leader of pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Selahettin Demirtas said on Sunday that the region’s existing borders are prone to “fundamental change” and can “no longer can contain the people”.
Speaking at a rally in his hometown of Diyarbakir, the 43 year-old leader also slammed Ankara for its “flawed foreign policy” with regard to what he described as “a changing world.”
“In the near future, a fundamental political shift will take place that will shake up the entire region from North Africa to the Middle East and the Kurdistan Region,” Demirtas said addressing his supporters.
He said that the Sykes-Picot Agreement of the 1916, according to which the current borders were drawn, “is no longer respected by the peoples of the region.”
“The French and the English had a meeting and decided to draw the new borders; they made a dress which did not fit the size of the nations here. Now a century later, people will not abide by it. People now know that they cannot live with these borders,” Demirtas said.
His comments come amid an intense government campaign to indict lawmakers who express secessionist opinions in Turkey. The HDP’s official stance, however, is what they have often described as “democratic autonomy” within the existing borders of Turkey.
Demirtas also sharply criticized President Receb Tayyib Erdogan’s foreign policy, which according to him had isolated Turkey on the world stage.
“The government’s foreign policy for the past 13 years has failed. They made the greatest mistakes in Syria and with Russia. They made serious mistakes with Europe, Iran, Iraq, Greece and the Kurdistan region,” he added.
Speaking at a rally in his hometown of Diyarbakir, the 43 year-old leader also slammed Ankara for its “flawed foreign policy” with regard to what he described as “a changing world.”
“In the near future, a fundamental political shift will take place that will shake up the entire region from North Africa to the Middle East and the Kurdistan Region,” Demirtas said addressing his supporters.
He said that the Sykes-Picot Agreement of the 1916, according to which the current borders were drawn, “is no longer respected by the peoples of the region.”
“The French and the English had a meeting and decided to draw the new borders; they made a dress which did not fit the size of the nations here. Now a century later, people will not abide by it. People now know that they cannot live with these borders,” Demirtas said.
His comments come amid an intense government campaign to indict lawmakers who express secessionist opinions in Turkey. The HDP’s official stance, however, is what they have often described as “democratic autonomy” within the existing borders of Turkey.
Demirtas also sharply criticized President Receb Tayyib Erdogan’s foreign policy, which according to him had isolated Turkey on the world stage.
“The government’s foreign policy for the past 13 years has failed. They made the greatest mistakes in Syria and with Russia. They made serious mistakes with Europe, Iran, Iraq, Greece and the Kurdistan region,” he added.