HDP can only ‘shoot movie’ of Kurdish peace process, deputy PM says

“The HDP can only make the movie of the peace process from now on. The peace does not come by saying ‘peace, peace.’ If they got 13 percent of the votes, then they should call on Kandil [mountains] and make [the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party] PKK lay [down] arms,” Akdoğan told reporters before attending a cabinet meeting in Ankara on June 8. His remarks came a day after the general elections, in which the HDP received 13 percent of the votes and passed the 10 percent of election threshold.

“I express my gratitude to our people who allowed the [ruling Justice and Development Party] AKP to be the leading party. Our priority is Turkey,” Akdoğan also added. 

The HDP has sent delegations to İmralı Island, where the leader of the PKK, Abdullah Öcalan, is serving his life imprisonment, within the concept of the Kurdish peace process that the government launched in the late 2000s. 

The peace process has aimed to bring an end to the armed conflict between the PKK and Turkish security forces, which started in 1984. Some 40,000 people have lost their lives in the decades-old conflict.