Erdogan Attacks Kurdish Leader as Turkey Keeps Fighting Rebels
- Erdogan accuses pro-Kurdish party head Demirtas of `treason'
- Demirtas endorsed call for Kurdish security, police forces
Selahattin Demirtas.
Photographer: Adem Altan/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the leader of the country’s pro-Kurdish party of being a traitor and vowed to crush its separatist aims.
Erdogan’s unprecedentedly harsh attack on HDP co-chairman Selahattin Demirtas didn’t bode well for any hopes of resuming peace talks with autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels. Confrontations between the rebels and the government have intensified since HDP representatives won parliamentary seats for the first time in June elections.