Demirtas: "Earthquake is a catastrophe, not 'God's blessing' for transition to dictatorship"

Imprisoned Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas reacted to reported efforts to postpone elections after the earthquake on 6 February.

He said:

"According to some information I received, a group of legal experts have been instructed to sort out a legal grounds to postpone the elections while everybody is focused on the catastrophe. They are apparently preparing once again to defy the Constitution through a fait accompli."

He continued:

"The elections may be postponed only on a resolution by the Turkish Grand National Assembly, or upon an official declaration of warfare. There may be no other exception. Disregarding the parliament and issuing a decision to postpone the elections will signify an apparent political coup."

He added:

"In case the elections are once postponed in violation of the constitution, this will be the beginning of a new phase and nobody will have enough power anymore to force the Supreme Election Council into calling for elections again."

Refering to a remark by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan who had said after the military coup attempt on 15 July 2016 that the attempt was "God's blessing, because it will enable a purge in our armed forces," Demirtas said:

"The earthquake is a catastrophe, not 'God's blessing' for a transition to dictatorship. The people will not allow it. Full stop."