HDP Deputy Slams Erdoğan For Justice Remark

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Hasip Kaplan has criticized a recent comment by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that he is "seeking justice" for the victims of the Roboski (Uludere) massacre, saying it is hypocritical for an unjust state to promise justice.

Speaking on Nov. 28, Kaplan attacked Erdoğan's recent comments about the massacre, in which 34 men and boys were killed by Turkish jets while returning to their home villages near Uludere in Şırnak province from cities in northern Iraq in December 2011, with the military later saying that commanders mistook them for Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants.

"I'm surprised; what is he saying, and to whom?” Kaplan said. “Of course people are looking for justice. ... Of course we all know that the 34 tearful mothers in Roboski are looking for justice and that this issue has reached Parliament. That guilt is the guilt of betraying one's country, the guilt of bombing one's own citizens," he said.

Kaplan continued to criticize the justice system in Turkey, saying: "Those who shot [Ali İsmail] Korkmaz and [Ethem] Sarısülük during the Gezi events; why are the judges in their cases being exiled? … Some people are looking for justice [for the Uludere victims] -- their brothers, their mothers and people with consciences -- but some are trying to close it [justice] down."

The deputy continued: "Health officials' roles have been completely changed, so what will their justice be? The children who lost their lives from TOMAs [police water-cannon trucks] and gas canisters, the thousands of women who lose their lives due to violence, the citizens who are exposed to disproportionate violence on the streets every day, what will their justice be? If you are the ruler [of Turkey] for 12 years and you are the president and you are looking for justice, then we should bring Diogenes' lamp and show you the path of justice."

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)