Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair Mithat Sancar spoke at a rally in the Aegean city of Aydin.

He emphasised that a democratic solution to the Kurdish problem is key to any transition to a democratic republic, and expressed his strong confidence in the community support for the HDP, now faced with legal proceedings demanding dissolution.

“They are unable to compete with us politically. They can’t subdue us with their courts, trials and assaults, so now they have issued directives for court proceedings to dissolve the party” he said.

“But there is something they are unaware of, or something they have just not learnt. The HDP is a deep-rooted idea. It’s a massive plane tree. Its roots go down deep. They are spread through the soil all over this land. The government will never have the power to dissolve the HDP.”

He stressed that the march of the HDP is a march to a democratic republic, and indicated that the road to a democratic republic passes through a democratic solution to the Kurdish problem. “No government lacking the courage to solve the Kurdish problem by democratic means can continue in power in Turkey,” he said.

He also emphasised that “standing up together for a democratic solution to the Kurdish problem” will change the regime, “which has produced criminal gangs and mobs, which commits murders and innumerable crimes ranging from drug trafficking to oil smuggling and which exploits the worker and pillages nature.”

“The greatest power is the collective power of the people” he continued. “Have no doubt; we will take this power to its highest point. We’ll walk this road together without the slightest hesitation. Our friends Figen Yüksekdağ, Selahattin Demirtaş, Gültan Kışanak, Sabahat Tuncel, İdris Baluken and other comrades too numerous to mention, who have paid the price for this and are now in prison, all acted in the confidence that you will always find the truest path to freedom, democracy and peace, and walk forward.”

He wound up his speech, saying, “Those who resist always win. Resistance is life.”