Turkey
Damaged doors and windows of the the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) headquarters in Ankara after an attack on October 25, 2024. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s largest pro-Kurdish political party said on Friday that their headquarters in Ankara were attacked overnight.
“Our #DEMParti Headquarters in #Balgat #Ankara, where many political party headquarters are located, was attacked at midnight,” Aysegul Dogan, spokesperson for the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), wrote on X.
She shared photos of damage done to the building, including broken doors and windows, and a smashed sign.
Dogan called on Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya to identify the perpetrators.
The attack came as there is growing expectation that Turkey may restart peace talks with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to bring an end to the 40 year conflict.
DEM Party is frequently accused of having ties with the PKK. The party denies the charges, but is an advocate for Kurdish rights and a political resolution to the conflict.
This is not the first time that the party’s offices have been attacked. In May, a gunman opened fire on its office in the southeastern Urfa province.
Reports of a renewed drive for peace began earlier this month with Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli, who shook hands with members of the DEM Party in the legislature. Bahceli also proposed inviting jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to address the Turkish parliament and declare the dissolution of his armed group.
In a further step, the government decided to allow Ocalan to meet his family, ending more than four years of isolation. After the meeting, Ocalan's nephew and DEM Party lawmaker Omer Ocalan shared on X on Thursday morning a message from his uncle that he can transition the violence into a political process.
An estimated 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state.
A short-lived peace process in 2013 granted Kurds some rights, but the talks collapsed in 2015 and the conflict spread into the Kurdistan Region and northeast Syria (Rojava).
Hopes for peace took a blow on Wednesday when a Turkish aerospace facility in Ankara’s Kahramankazan district was attacked, leaving five people dead and 22 others injured. Two attackers were “neutralized” and Ankara blamed the PKK. Turkey uses the term “neutralize” to describe adversaries who have been captured, wounded, or killed.
Later the same day, Turkey launched strikes on alleged PKK positions in the Kurdistan Region and Syria, stating that 32 “targets belonging to terrorists” were “neutralized.” Strikes have reportedly continued on Friday morning. Twelve civilians have been killed, according to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The DEM Party has condemned the attack on the aerospace facility and called for peace.
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