BDP chairman calls on PKK to lay down arms

Speaking in a parliamentary meeting of his party on Tuesday, Demirtaş urged the PKK to end its armed activities as he insisted on the idea that the military should also halt its operations. “This fight must end. We shouldn’t sit idly by and watch our youth kill each other. Those who regard negotiations and talks as betrayal of the country are also responsible for [these] deaths. We are in a period in which we need to defend the notion of peace more than ever,” Demirtaş said. Meanwhile, Demirtaş slammed the government, criticizing the poor conditions in the country’s prisons, which came into the spotlight after a deadly fire in a Şanlıurfa prison claimed the lives of 13 inmates three days ago.

Demirtaş argued that the prisons are very overcrowded and in poor condition, far from meeting the needs of inmates. He urged the government to take concrete steps to solve the issue of prisons in Turkey and to not let another deadly incident or fire take place.

Commenting on the Constitutional Reconciliation Commission’s work to draft a new Constitution, Demirtaş said his party has not left the table despite all the quarreling, emphasizing their sincerity on the issue.