JINHA

ISTANBUL - Figen Yüksekdağ, co-chair of Turkey's Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), spoke outside a hospital in Istanbul after visiting the wounded in the Suruç bombing. Figen denounced the AKP's response as fomenting tension and clashes.

On Monday, in the town of Suruç, Turkey, a bomb exploded at a press conference of youth activists planning to travel to Kobanê, in the Rojava autonomous region in Syria. They hoped to help rebuild the city, which has been devastated by a Daesh siege in 2014 and 2015. The bombing killed 32 and left over 100 wounded. Eight of the wounded remain in critical condition.

Figen Yüksekdağ visited the hospital in Istanbul where Çağla Sever, one of those wounded in the bombing, is being treated. Figen noted that, "those youths wanted to heal Kobanê's wounds.

"If today, we don't stand up for these youths' values and desires, tomorrow perhaps this darkness will not leave us any space of goodness to stand up for," said Figen. Figen called for a peace-oriented policy in Turkey. "It's time for us as a society to get past this climate of death," said Figen. She denounced politics based on inciting clashes and killing.

Recently, the speaker for Turkey's ruling AKP government, Bülent Arınç, said at a press conference that, "there were no HDP officials among the dead." Figen reacted to the government's policy of "othering people and escalating tensions.

"Yesterday, the government stood up and said, 'why didn't you die?'" said Figen, reacting to the attack on her party. "At this point, this is the external expression of a mindset that is inexpressibly malicious. By saying, 'why didn't you die?' they accused us of sending those young people to their deaths. Those who need to be preventing these youth's deaths are instead accusing us." Figen had reacted sharply to the remark on Twitter, saying that she wished she had died in the youth's place.

"As I said yesterday, if you can take my life and leave those youth be, here; take it. Our lives are right here if you want to take them," she said. She condemned the government for making these kinds of remarks in place of expressing sympathy for the families of the wounded.

"A bad foreign policy and irresponsible management of the country has paved the way for all of this chaos and danger," said Figen. "We are still waiting to see a serious program for struggling with ISIS. They come out with ridiculous attempts to make us a target, but they know very well what they need to be doing."

Figen called for a peaceful solution for the Middle East. "We made a promise to those youths; we will realize it," she said.

(dk/gc/cm)