Ankara Bombing - Our Message of Soldarity
The Scottish Green Party expresses its heartfelt solidarity with all the victims of Saturday's bomb attack at the Peace Rally in Ankara.
I woke this morning and all seemed peaceful, but oppression still exists.
Bury me high in the mountain under the shade of a beautiful flower.
Merhaba ey güzel çiçek.
This attack is the bloodiest yet in a series of attacks against peace protesters. Turkey has seen an increased situation of violence and terror, it has seen journalists and lawyers imprisoned. We condemn the attack and call for a full and credible investigation of the attack. Any censorship of media coverage on the issue has to stop. Our support is with all those progressive forces in the country working for democracy and peace.
In this context, it seems increasingly unlikely that a fair and free general election can take place in Turkey on 1st November. The HDP, a party formed by Turks and Kurds to which the Turkish Green Party is affiliated, reported: "The safety of the general elections is a vexing question to be considered in a serious manner. Our electorates feel under constant threat in every social space and political activity they attend." We call on the Turkish Government to immediately respond to the PKK truce and stop air raids against the Kurds. It must stop arresting human rights activists and attacking Kurdish communities in order to allow a fair election process.
Ahmet Atil Asici, international coordinator of the Turkish Greens, comments:
“The reckless Turkish foreign policy in the Middle East aggravated not only the humanitarian crisis in Syria, but also turned Turkey into an open target for ISIS. The series of bomb explosions starting from Diyarbakır during a HDP demonstration just before June elections, in Suruc in mid-July, and in Ankara two days ago, show clearly the ineffectiveness of the security forces in intercepting the ISIS militants operating in Turkey. The Turkish government should dramatically revise its Middle-East policy to end humanitarian crisis in Syria by restarting negotiations with Kurds in Turkey and in Syria”.