DEM Party's Bakırhan reacts to government's 'Trump' stance: 'The solution is not in Washington, it's in Ankara!'

Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Co-Chair Tuncer Bakırhan made evaluations at his party's weekly group meeting in Parliament. Starting his speech by reacting to the appointment of trustees, Bakırhan described the trustees as an "usurpation of will."

Bakırhan reacted to the blockade and police violence in front of the municipalities where trustees were appointed. Bakırhan said that the public gave the message through protests that "This is a political coup. You cannot usurp our will."

'YOU CANNOT COLLECT WATER WITH A SIEVE'

Drawing attention to the ongoing resistance in Batman, Bakırhan noted, "While people were resisting in the streets, the first thing the Batman trustee did was to stop services in Kurdish. This is what a trustee is. We say that the trustee is hostility. We will continue to say this until we explain it. Our peoples do not want a trustee, they want democracy. Our people want their will to be respected."

Sharing what a mother said against the appointment of the trustee, Bakırhan said, "A mother in Batman said in Kurdish, 'av bi bêjingê nayê komkirin.' That is, she said, 'You cannot collect water with a sieve.' I ask you, is a trustee not collecting water with a sieve? Does it have any other meaning? It has been tried for two terms, the government has received a very clear answer due to the appointments, but despite this, it is trying to attempt it for the third time."

'NOW ERDOĞAN COMES TO MIND'

Bakırhan continued as follows:

"We were in Mardin. Our citizens in Mardin are also reading the situation very well. One of our citizens was saying, 'When we said coup, Kenan Evren used to come to mind, but now this government comes to mind.' A citizen of ours in Halfeti said the same thing. Common sense is something like this. He said that this government is a trustee government, a regime. Our people everywhere have clearly expressed what this government is, from Halfeti to Mardin."

'IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE UNKNOWN, LOOK AROUND YOU'

It is not enough, they also call our municipal co-chairs 'unknowns.' We are known. Look, we are people here who want justice, peace, and democracy. The 'unknowns' are the trustees you have appointed. The 'unknowns' are those who eat the rights and laws of people who are hungry and destitute. It is to commit theft and corruption. Such things never exist in our book, in our struggle. We are a tradition that has been fighting for peace, democracy, rights, and justice in these lands for thousands of years. If you are looking for 'unknown' people, look around your own circle and environment.

'YOU ARE CALLING ALL KURDS 'TERRORISTS''

Let's speak clearly; first they steal the minaret, then they find a cover for it. They say 'terror' and so on. It is a complete fallacy, a complete lie. They have become so reckless that if their feet touch a pebble; they get annoyed and appoint trustees to DEM Party municipalities. When the Palace's chef doesn't make good soup, they get annoyed and appoint trustees to our municipalities. It is not enough, they also say 'terror.' Only they believe in this 'terror' lie. There is no 'terror' in our party, there is no 'terrorist.' We know that you call all Kurds 'terrorists,' and now that is not enough, with this agent-of-influence law, they are trying to call all of Turkey, everyone who is an opponent, 'terrorists.' We will stand against this law as well. Trying to prevent everyone who is an opponent from engaging in opposition by squeezing them into the concept of 'terror' is incompatible with democratic politics.

'WHICH JUDICIARY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?'

Erdoğan said, 'The judiciary stood firm, I congratulate it.' Is there really a judiciary in place? Which judiciary is he talking about? What they call firmness is clearly appointing trustees to the will of Kurds, Turks, laborers, and the poor. He approves the appointment of a trustee and also congratulates it. Erdoğan has come out and said, 'You should have shown clean candidates.' What is the measure of cleanliness? I wish there was a tool that measured cleanliness so that we could all understand together who is white and who is black.

'SHOULD WE HAVE NOMINATED MEHMET UÇUM?'

Mr. Erdoğan, is there a single person left in the country you haven't labeled a 'terrorist'? So what should we do? Should we have nominated political trustee Mehmet Uçum for Mardin? Should we have nominated tender trustee Cengiz Holding for Batman? Even if we had, who would have voted for them? And he talks about clean candidates.

'THE TRUSTEE IS NO LONGER JUST A KURDISH PROBLEM'

Look, let us state it clearly; the trustee is no longer a Kurdish problem. We said this yesterday, and it emerged once again in Esenyurt. If we do not stand together in solidarity against the trustee; it is likely that the trustee will spread not only to the Kurdish geography but to all four corners of Turkey in the coming period.

'I WISH YOU HAD DEALT WITH THE ECONOMY'

I wish you had dealt with the economy instead of the trustee. If those who deal with the trustee had dealt with our 5 lives lost in İzmir, we would not have encountered such situations. Turkish politics does not care about the poor.

There are discussions about the minimum wage. Every time minimum wage discussions start, Central Bank officials say they expect inflation to fall in the future. They are playing with our hunger, and it is not enough, they are playing with our minds."

US ELECTIONS

Government representatives want to turn Trump's election into an opportunity. They are trying to make this a ground for a military operation in Rojava. You cannot eliminate crises by attacking Rojava.

We want to point out that you will not find a window of opportunity in foreign capitals. The solution is in Amed, it is in Ankara.

RESPONSE TO BAHÇELİ

Bahçeli said, 'We must save the future, not the day.' How will we save the future by denying the past? First, Mr. Bahçeli should change his language. If you are talking about a common future, give up your denial policies, stop threatening us. We say face the truths. We say that it is impossible to build a new era without facing the truths.

Let us see how you build the Turkish and Kurdish century. But we will not accept your poisonous language."