Kurdish Presidential Candidate Makes Campaign Speech From Prison Cell

Turkey’s pro-Kurdish People’s Democracy Party (HDP) presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtas launched an election campaign speech from his prison cell during a phone call with his family.

Demirtas used his weekly phone call right with his family members as an occasion to deliver a campaign speech recorded by his HDP fellows who were present along with the Demirtas family during the call.

HDP broadcasted the speech on Twitter.

Demirtas said he is being kept as a political hostage. He lamented the unfair campaign conditions and said he is unable to respond against accusations directed by ruling party members.

“Injustice does not only happen in the courts. We witness unjust measures every day against everyone in every place, from universities to hospitals, from the fields to the factories, and from government offices to the streets,” he said during the call.

“Unfortunately, Turkey as a whole has been transformed into a semi-open prison. They want to build a society of fear, an empire of fear, whereas the function of the state is not to terrify its citizens but to serve them,” HDP quoted as Demirtas saying in a release.