The Armenian National Committee of Canada is deeply concerned regarding the recent detainment and arrest of Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, co-chairs of Turkey's pro-Kurdish HDP (Halkların Demokratik Partisi) party.

“As a part of our strong commitment to human rights, justice and democracy, we strongly condemn such acts by the Erdogan Regime, that overtly undermine the democratic institutions, values and the inalienable rights of the people,” said Shahen Mirakian, President of the ANCC, in a letter addressed to the Honourable Stéphane Dion, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Strongly opposing the regimes divisive and manipulative politics, the HDP has been the only Turkish political party to publicly acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, calling upon the Turkish government to face its own history. Garo Paylan, an HDP parliamentarian of Armenian origin has been a strong voice within the party apparatus and on multiple occasions, he has publicly challenged the Erdogan regime for its unwarranted actions.

“We call upon the Canadian government to immediately condemn the actions of the Turkish government and exert the necessary political pressure on their authorities to free the HDP parliamentarians that were arrested on trumped-up charges and baseless accusations,” said Mirakian.