Turkey's opposition parties condemn attack on HDP office

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Turkey's opposition parties have slammed the attack on the local office of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in the Aegean province of İzmir, calling on government officials to stop targeting the HDP in their discourses.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu “cursed” the attack and expressed his condolences to the family of the HDP employee who lost her life in the attack.

“I curse the attack on the HDP İzmir provincial building. I wish God's mercy on Deniz Poyraz who lost her life and express my condolences to her family. We have gone through this before, our people will not fall for it this time. I warn, no one should rely on such provocations!” Kılıçdaroğlu wrote on Twiter.

Kılıçdaroğlu was also reported to have called HDP co-chair Mithat Sancar and expressed his condolences to the HDP community.

CHP MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu called on the government to stop using an “animosity-ridden language that polarizes and shows [the HDP] as a target.”

"The attack was a long time coming. For a long time now, HDP members, opponents and activists were being targeted by the ruling party, the ruling party's spokespeople in a systematic way. An animosity-ridden and a polarizing language was being used," Tanrıkulu said in a video. 

“Of course I also have a word for the judiciary. The judiciary has long stayed silent to the HDP's being targeted and lynched in such a way,” he also said. 

İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener similarly expressed her condolences to the family of killed Poyraz, saying those behind the attack “have a desire to hunt fish in the cloudy water.”

“I condemn the attack against the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) İzmir provincial office and wish God's mercy on Deniz Poyraz who lost her life, and express my condolences to her family and loved ones. Those who have a desire to hunt fish in the cloudy water should pull themselves together,” Akşener wrote on Twitter.

Felicity Party Temel Karamollaoğlu called on the incident to be enlightened with all of its details and called on the government officials to relinquish their “statements and behaviors that feed violence.”

Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) leader Ali Babacan wrote on Twitter that it is the responsibility of the current leadership to “prevent the atmosphere of violence and ensure the security of political parties and politicians.”

Future Party leader Ahmet Davutoğlu called on the government to take measures immediately for “the politics not be shadowed by terror.”

The HDP said that the instigator is the ruling coalition consisting of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

"The instigator and abettor of this brutal attack is the AKP-MHP government and the Interior Ministry, which constantly targets our party and our members," the HDP said on its website.

In a statement on Twitter, ruling AKP spokesman Ömer Çelik condemned the attack and said Turkey "would never allow such provocations to disturb its peace."

Hours after the attack, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli referred to the attack as a "calamitous event" and a "scheme that tests the nerves of the society." In a series of tweets, he called on authorities to launch a thorough investigation into the attack, saying "no one has the right to blame the MHP" for it. 

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