Yusuf Ozpercin, the Adiyaman (Semsur) provincial co-chair of DEM Party, was reportedly arrested on Saturday morning on charges of "making propaganda for an organization" and "making statements against the state," for allegedly criticizing Turkey’s recent operations in the Kurdistan Region.
“The democratic right to make anti-war, peaceful, and free expression statements criticizing government policies is a right that our politically represented friends and all citizens possess and will undoubtedly exercise,” read a statement from the DEM Party, stressing that the right to criticize government decisions cannot be considered a crime.
"Ozpercin, who was unjustly arrested, should be released as soon as possible. We share with the public that we condemn this unlawfulness against our friend and that we are following the process legally,” the statement added.
Turkey has deployed a large number of troops in Duhok province since mid-June, causing an escalation in Ankara’s decades-long war against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Turkey has established checkpoints and military patrols in Duhok province, and the military escalation has led to the evacuation of eight villages and the displacement of at least 182 families.
The DEM Party also criticized Ankara for insisting on leaving the country’s long-standing Kurdish issue unresolved.
“The political power's policy of insisting on conflict and war by leaving the Kurdish issue unresolved continues despite the strong objection of the people in the March 31 local elections,” DEM Party said.
In March’s local elections, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost the majority across the country to the opposition’s Republican People’s Party (CHP).
“While Turkey is being scorched by deep poverty and high living costs, it is also facing the bitter face of war. The economic and political crisis, further deepened by war policies, has put the entire society in challenging conditions,” the statement continued.
Baghdad earlier this year labeled PKK as a banned organization ahead of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s rare visit to Iraq in April. Both countries signed numerous agreements that included security.
The recent escalation in attacks is a part of Turkey’s stated plans to eradicate the Kurdish group along its southern border with the Kurdistan Region. Erdogan said in March that Ankara is close to completing a zone that will “permanently resolve” the security issues along their border with the Kurdistan Region and Iraq by the summer.
Erdogan said on Monday that Ankara would get revenge fone of their soldiers who was killed in Duhok, and all their losses in the region: “We are avenging all these losses. They are paying a very heavy price and will continue to do so.”
But Ankara’s relentless military strikes and the deployment of ground troops also have stoked fear in the villagers of Duhok province’s mountainous areas who fear displacement from their villages as mortar shells and constant gunfire prompt panic.
Turkey has carried out more than 1,000 attacks on the Kurdistan Region and Nineveh province so far in 2024, according to conflict monitor Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT) data.
