Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said previously that ”the Kurdish question in Turkey could be resolved with the pro-Kurdish HDP.”

Erdoğan’s statement came after Kılıçdaroğlu’s remarks. In response to a question from reporters regarding the Kurdish question at a press conference in New York, Erdoğan said, ”There is no Kurdish problem in Turkey as we have already solved and overcome it.”

HDP spokesperson Ebru Günay criticised Erdoğan’s statements, saying that ”political deadlock is leading the country into the abyss.”

She also welcomed the recent remarks by Kılıçdaroğlu for recognising the HDP as the key actor in finding a solution to Turkey’s Kurdish question. ”We believe that it is important to discuss the solution and the interlocutor of the Kurdish question, which has been initiated by the opposition recently,” she said and added ”The Kurdish question is one of the most important aspects of Turkey’s democratic problem. Turkey cannot become democratised without solving the Kurdish question.”

Referring to a political solution, Günay stated that ”the process should be placed under guarantee by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. This has repeatedly been pointed out by Mr. Öcalan during the peace process. The laws should be issued and the process placed under guarantee by the supervision of the Assembly, and all stages should be protected by law. For Öcalan, the Assembly is the place not only where the peace process should be placed under guarantee, but also where it should be perpetuated,” she noted.

Günay also spoke about the Kobani Trials, in which the former co-chairs and Central Executive Board members of the HDP, Turkey’s second-largest opposition party, are currently facing charges in connection with demonstrations in Turkey relating to Kobani, a Kurdish town in northern Syria which was under siege by ISIS, in October 2014.

Referring to the Kobani trial, Günay said that from the very first hearing of the case, it was clear that the judiciary was acting under instructions. ”There is no truth, there is no justice, there are no rights and there is no law in the Kobani conspiracy case. There are many lies, there is injustice, there is no solution.”

She continued:

”The HDP is a party of Turkey that has taken upon itself as a duty the solution of the Kurdish problem, and all of Turkey’s problems. The HDP has the determination and the will to solve Turkey’s biggest problem, the Kurdish problem, on a democratic basis. That is why we will continue to strive for a solution,” she said.