Turkey: Ruling party dismissive, then takes into account pro-Kurdish party in days

The ruling party in Turkey has sought dialogue with the pro-Kurdish opposition in bringing the Islamic headscarf issue to a referandum vote, after having recently excluded its executives from an invitation list for the public declaration of the "Century for Turkey Vision."

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) officials had ignored, in an act of discrimination, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), who currently has the third largest parliamentary group in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM), by not inviting its representatives to an AKP meeting where Turkish President and AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan disclosed his vision for the future of the country.

The representatives of the rest of the parties who have seats in the parliament were invited to the event.

Only five days after the event, AKP officials this time payed a visit to the parliamentary group of HDP for consulting with deputies concerning a potential move by the AKP to bring the Islamic headscarf issue to a referandum vote in order to ammend the Turkish constitution in case their proposal is approved by the voters.

An AKP delegation, chaired by the Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdag, met on Monday with HDP's deputy parliamentary group chairs, Meral Danis Bestas and Saruhan Oluc, and Mardin deputy Ebru Gunay.

Bestas said after the meeting: "How are we supposed to ask the voters about a freedom and right concerning how people are dressed. This is not a right to be debated."

She added that they would still discuss it with party officials and let AKP representatives know about their decision.