A reference to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks was enough to increase the tension between the AKP and DEM soon after the two’s cooperation on the framework law.
AKP spokesperson Ömer Çelik burst into anger against DEM Party Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları, for referencing Netanyahu’s words, on how the Kurdish problem creates a problem for Turkey in its international relations.
“Well, could Turkey not have been in a much better position in the region on peace, on friendship, on relations between countries? It could have been. But what always got in its way? The Kurdish issue and the Kurdish question got in its way,” said Hatimoğulları. She then gave an example: “For instance, when [Turkey] told Israel, 'Stop occupying Palestine,' Netanyahu turned around and said, 'Well, you stop beating the Kurds,' he said, 'Stop killing them,' he said.”
Çelik flew off the handle: “It is telling that at a moment when a wholly new period has opened in Parliament with 467 votes in favor, the DEM Party Co-Chair's first remarks unfairly and baselessly target our party and our government.'
He repeated that the government was against the occupation of Palestine since the beginning and called on Hatimoğulları to correct her statement. “No politician in Turkey or the world who supports the 'alliance of humanity' would reference the words of the genocidal Netanyahu while making their own case.”
Then, the DEM Party spokesperson Ayşegül Doğan shared a written statement on X. 'There is no question of our Co-Chair defending Netanyahu or referencing his words through her remarks,' and added, 'The subject of this observation is not Turkey or President Erdoğan, but those who seek to profit from the absence of a solution.'
Condemning genocidal actors, Doğan said the framework law gives historical responsibilities to all sides. “Polemics that would overshadow the longing for peace of 86 million people must not be permitted.”
