JINHA

RIHA – Figen Yüksekdağ, co-chair of Turkey's left party HDP, spoke at the border between Turkey and Kobanê on Saturday. Figen called on the AKP to demonstrate that it does not support Daesh.

On June 25, members of the Daesh gang launched one of their bloodiest attacks ever, slaughtering over 200 civilians in the city of Kobanê, in the Rojava autonomous region of Syria. Many inside Kobanê say Daesh's rampage in the city could only have taken place with logistic support from Turkey, as it would have been impossible for the gang to enter the city other than through the border gate with Turkey.

Over the weekend, a group of HDP representatives headed to the border with Kobanê to analyze the situation on the ground. The representatives spoke about their findings to the press at Newroz Hill.

Figen noted that over the last few years, the PYD—the party in power in Kobanê and the other two cantons of Rojava—has worked to create a place where the peoples of the region can live in peace. Rojava's YPG/YPJ forces have scored major military victories recently in their effort to defend this area and to defeat Daesh in the region. However, Turkish President Erdoğan has recently stated that if there is a "state" (implying a Kurdish state) on Turkey's border, the country will militarily intervene in Syria.

Figen noted that if it weren't for the PYD and the YPG/YPJ forces' efforts to defeat Daesh at Turkey's border, "no citizen of Turkey would be safe today, from the borders to the center of Turkey." However, rather than thanking the PYD, Turkey has declared it an enemy—meanwhile, doing nothing to stop Daesh.

"There are Daesh camps in Akçakale [in Turkey's Urfa province]," said Figen. "Confront this, start investigations, call the police and prosecutors into action. No one has taken any action against these Daesh camps. Now, right in front of our eyes, gang members passed through this border gate and carried out a massacre." Figen noted that video footage has repeatedly shown that Turkish soldiers have given logistical support to Daesh and allowed them to cross the border freely.

"At this point, there's no approach more irresponsible than calling this reality a 'claim,'" said Figen. "Just do one operation against Daesh so that we can believe you. Otherwise, the claim that 'we don't support Daesh' is not acceptable in our eyes."

(zd-ny/gc/mg/cm)