Ankara- Today, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, chairperson of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and presidential candidate of the Nation Alliance, visited Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar, Co-chairs of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was accompanied by CHP Parliamentary Group Deputy Chair Özgür Özel, CHP Secretary General Selin Sayek Böke and CHP Deputy Chair Oğuz Kaan Salıcı. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and the delegation were welcomed by Pervin Buldan, Mithat Sancar, HDP Spokesperson Ebru Günay and HDP Parliamentary Group Deputy Chair Saruhan Oluç. After the meeting, the parties’ leaders held a press conference.

 

‘Closing down a political party is not right’

 At the press conference, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu first made a speech. “Politics should not be a fighting field,” he said, “We stand with acting together to solve all existing problems. At the meeting, the focusing issue was local administrations. We conveyed that the appointment of trustees (to municipalities) is not a right practice. We must defend democracy in all circumstances. We are in the 21st century, closing down a political party is not right. We see that closed-down parties are back on the political scene and that the people support them.”

‘The solution address is the Parliament’

 “The address of the solution to all problems, including the Kurdish question, is the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey is a parliament that solves problems,” Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said, adding, “We are determined to bring democracy to this country. We will discuss (everything) freely. If we do not agree, we will sit down and discuss again. This country has respectable people. Politics is not an institution by itself; it takes its power from society, opinion leaders and wise people. We can solve all the problems with their support.”

 ‘We wanted to host them at the parliament’

After the speech of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, HDP Co-chair Pervin Buldan made a speech at the press conference. Stating that they talked about the expectations of Turkey’s society at the meeting, she said, “The reason why we hosted Mr. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was to show that we stand by the democratic solution of the Kurdish question under the roof of the parliament, under the roof of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. For this reason, we wanted to host Mr. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and the delegation at the parliament.”

‘We had a constructive meeting’

HDP Co-chair Mithat Sancar said in his speech, “We had a constructive meeting. As the HDP, we believe that this country needs an urgent program and a new beginning…A new beginning in Turkey will be possible only by establishing a life and system based on democracy, human rights, justice and freedom. We shared our thoughts on this issue. The reason why we had this meeting at the parliament is to emphasize that we see the Grand National Assembly of Turkey as the solution address.”

Mithat Sancar also said that they would share the details of the meeting with public opinion in one-two days.