Two Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) ministers of Turkey’s interim government have resigned, authorities said Tuesday.
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EU Affairs Minister Ali Haydar Konca and Development Minister Muslum Dogan said the state’s two-month-old offensive against the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) had created a “hellish” situation “especially in the Kurdish cities”.
The AKP accuses HDP, which won 13 percent of the vote in June, of being a political front for the PKK.
At a rally over the weekend, Erdogan implored supporters to back only “domestic” candidates in November, in what was widely seen as an attack on those sympathetic to the Kurdish minority.
A spokesperson for the HDP told Middle East Eye that the resignation was due to the “war-oriented” and “authoritarian” policies of the incumbent Justice and Development party (AKP) and the government’s lack of independence from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Doğan and Konca joined the interim government late last month, after Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu failed to form a coalition government within a legally mandated 45-day period following a parliamentary election on June 7.
“Prime Minister [Ahmet Davutoglu] accepted their resignations”, the PM’s office said.
NTV channel reported that the pair – who have been vocal critics of the AKP – walked out over a debate on terrorism during a cabinet meeting.
Cizre, near Turkey’s borders with Syria and Iraq, has become a flashpoint in two months of deepening violence in the largely Kurdish southeast.
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The HDP was the biggest victor of the vote, gaining representation in parliament – and later in government – for the first time in the history of a pro-Kurdish party. Over 130 Turkish security personnel – police, soldiers, and village guard militiamen – have been killed by the PKK since early July, as well as countless civilians. The government said up to 32 rebels died.
