Selahattin Demirtas, speaking in Izmir on Saturday, described the current escalating violence as a ruse by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) to regain its lost political capital, claiming that a lot of preparing were made to bring this war into being. Demirtas said June 7, a date when HDP's surge cost AK Party its parliamentary majority, is an important victory but an "unfinished" one. Demirtas said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan "seized the state," calling on nations in Turkey to build a new "brotherly" future that see each other as equal. Recalling the government's narrative that peace will be established if AK Party again comes to power in November snap elections, Demirtas said "they will even make it worse, because they need those coffins." HDP leader said the government moved forward with the settlement process aimed at ending the perennial conflict at times only when they needed. Calling on both warring parties to halt the armed conflict without any conditions, Demirtas said the HDP has been very successful in reconciling nations in Turkey and deprived Turkey of a dictator in the making. Demirtaş said he is asking anyone to vote for his party, but calling on everyone to raise their voice against the war.
