DEM Party Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları visited Demirtaş in Edirne Prison on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the arrest of politicians, including HDP's former co-chairs Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş. After the visit, Hatimoğulları, EMEP Chairman Seyit Aslan and DEM Party Istanbul Deputy Kezban Konukçu made statements to the press.
Hatimoğulları stated that 10 years ago on November 4, many MPs' houses were entered by breaking or forcibly opening their doors, and the MPs were detained and arrested, and said:
"November 4 went down in history as a political coup. November 4 was a day written in huge letters on the dark pages of history. And they are still inside. There has been no crime for 10 years. There is nothing except democratic politics and an understanding that considers democratic politics as a crime. Despite this, our friends are still being held in prison as part of the Kobani conspiracy case."
Stating that there will be visits and press statements in Kandıra and Sincan prisons, Hatimoğulları said that the common theme of these statements is to oppose the detention of politicians that has been going on for 10 years.
"OUR FRIENDS HELD AS HOSTAGE"
Hatimoğulları stated that they were asked in public meetings when Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş would be released and said:
"The conscience of the society is clear. The judgment of the conscience of the society is clear. Our friends who have been imprisoned innocently, our friends who are held hostage in prison and who are inside as political hostages should be released immediately."
Pointing to the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Hatimoğulları emphasized that Turkey, as a country party to the European Convention on Human Rights, is obliged to implement these decisions. Hatimoğulları continued as follows:
"This duty and responsibility is a legal responsibility. Currently, our friends who violate their own laws, their own constitution, ignore the contract they are a party to, and deny that signature in the contract they signed, are still in prison. We never accept this. Every day our friends are imprisoned means a crime committed by this government. It is illegal. Our friends are being held in prison illegally and should be released immediately."
“THE TRUSTEE REGIME WAS IN ACTION TO SILENCE EVERY OPPOSITION SECTION”
Hatimoğulları noted that trustee practices became widespread after what happened on November 4, 10 years ago, and said, "Trustee appointments in Van and many Kurdish provinces later appeared in Istanbul and Esenyurt. The trustee regime continued to exist in universities, workplaces and companies. In other words, it was not limited to Kurdish provinces only. The trustee regime stepped in to silence all those who were in opposition."
Stating that the detention and arrest of elected officials continues, Hatimoğulları stated that the method initiated on the HDP tradition was later applied to the entire opposition. Pointing to presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu and other detained mayors, Hatimoğulları said that this shows "how the political coup that started on November 4 has spread throughout Turkey."
Hatimoğulları said, "We do not accept the trustee regime. We do not accept the November 4 political coup. Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ should be released immediately. Our MYK members and all Kobani prisoners held in Sincan and other prisons should be released immediately."
"DEMİRTAŞ VIBRANT, DIFFICULT"
Stating that they received hundreds of messages and phone calls after they announced that they would visit Demirtaş, Hatimoğulları said that they conveyed the greetings sent to them to Demirtaş. Hatimoğulları said, “Dear Selahattin Demirtaş, believe me, he remains alive and alive with his mind and stance.”
Stating that Demirtaş sent his greetings and love to all the people of Turkey, Hatimoğulları said that Demirtaş's message regarding the process that the government calls "Terror-Free Turkey" was "We are making every effort we can here, under these conditions of captivity. We will continue to support."
Hatimoğulları stated that they evaluated the process together during the meeting and that Demirtaş shared his opinions and suggestions with them, and said, "Selahattin President shared his ideas with us when we visited him today with our delegation, with his very lively and creative ideas as always. We also evaluated the process together. He shared his views and suggestions with us and it was an extremely productive meeting."
Hatimoğulları described the dialogue between him and Demirtaş at the end of the meeting as follows:
"As we were leaving, he said, 'I want to invite you to dinner. But you probably won't be punished now. They won't let you in. They won't give you food either,' he said. So we said goodbye to him and left. We convey our greetings and love once again."
Emphasizing that they will continue the struggle until all political prisoners are free, Hatimoğulları said, "Our struggle will continue until we build a democratic Turkey that all Turkish people long for. Let us promise all the prisoners in front of the prison that our struggle will continue until there is not a single political prisoner left."
