The members of HUDA PAR who opposed being called the “Turkish Flag” threw down our flag, which took its color from the blood of our martyrs. AKP members also remained silent.
Release: 05:30 – 12 May 2023 Updated:
■ Başak KAYA-Evren DEMİRDAŞ
The images of AKP and its alliance partner HUDA PAR in the square, which turned into a garbage dump after the Batman rally, drew reaction. Turkish Flags were thrown to the ground after the rally. Presidential candidate of the People’s Alliance, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and HUDA PAR Chairman Zekeriya Yapıcıoğlu, who is a candidate for parliament from the AKP lists, held a joint rally in Batman the previous day. Speaking at the rally, where HUDA PAR banners were mostly seen, Erdoğan targeted CHP and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. After the rally, there was a big scandal, Turkish flags were thrown to the ground.
HE HAS AN ALLERGY TO TURKISH
Zekeriya Yapıcıoğlu has rhetoric such as “The Turkish flag should be called instead of the Turkish flag”, “O Kurdistan, you now have an owner”, “The identity of the Turkish nation should be removed from the constitution”, “Autonomy and federation ideas should also be discussed”. HUDA PAR also wants the state to apologize for Sheikh Said and Said-i Nursi. He claims that the Republic founded on “secularism” and “Turkishness” persecutes Kurds and Muslims. The party, which does not believe in gender equality, also opposes coeducation.
CITIZENS RISK
The disrespect to the Turkish Flag drew a reaction. Shares were made on social media, “The rally of those who call us without prayer, no flag, no religion. CHP Batman Provincial Chairman Hikmet Duruş said, “I strongly condemn this attack on the Turkish Flag.”
They shook it like this before throwing it
While the rally of the People’s Alliance in BATMAN started, the scene in the square was different. AKP officials distributed many Turkish Flags to the participants. People in the square waved their flags and experienced enthusiasm when Erdoğan, the candidate of the People’s Alliance, came to the platform to speak and afterwards. It was observed that the HUDA PAR and AKP pennants were more than the Turkish flag in the rally area.
Reaction from the Nation Alliance:
These images hurt us
The reaction of the Nation Alliance parties came to the throwing of the Turkish Flag on the ground in Batman. Here are those comments:
■ CHP Group Deputy Chairman Özgür Özel: “It hurt us to see the Turkish Flag being thrown on the ground. Erdoğan took Bahçeli on one arm, Destici on the other, and HUDA PAR in his bosom. We leave it to the discretion of all voters, especially those who define themselves as nationalists, that a political party that proposes to change the name of the Turkish flag and that has a problem with the flag and the nation has been taken under its wings by the current president.”
■ DP Deputy Chairman Cemal Enginyurt: “The AKP uses the Turkish flag in its rallies only to deceive the nation. The incident in Batman is the clearest indicator of this. Erdogan, who held a rally with HUDA-PAR, who was uncomfortable with the Turkish name, ignored the throwing of the Turkish Flag on the ground. The Turkish nation, people who do not hesitate to give their lives for the Turkish Flag, should see and know the true face of AKP. Shame on you.”
■ IYI Party Deputy Chairman Ümit Dikbayır: “Those who do not know what the flag means cannot appreciate the flag. The Turkish flag is sacred to this nation and is our common value. I strongly condemn this disrespect to the Turkish flag. These images, which took place after the AKP rally, revealed the true face of both the ruling party and its partner HUDA-PAR.”
Flag bearers were stoned in Erzurum, too.
While Turkish flags were thrown to the ground in Batman, the events that took place at the meeting of the Deputy President of the Nation Alliance, Erkem İmamoğlu, came to mind in Erzurum. A group of 200-250 people who raided the meeting area and made a gray wolf sign hurled stones at both Imamoglu and those who came to listen to him.
17 PEOPLE WAS INJURED
The stoner group consisted of people who defined themselves as nationalists, who wrote ‘homeland, nation, flag’ literature at every opportunity. But all the people they stoned and injured had Turkish flags in their hands. Although İmamoğlu is from the CHP, it was noted that the banners of his party were few in the rally area. 17 people were injured in the stone attack on İmamoğlu’s Erzurum rally on 7 May, and 15 people who had been detained were released. Orhan BOZKURT/SÖZCÜ