Demirtaş to Erdoğan: ‘I will keep myself jailed if lira gains in value to trade at 5 against dollar'
After being targeted by Erdoğan once again during rallies, Demirtaş has emphasized the deteriorating economic crisis and promised to “keep himself jailed” if the president improves the economy in a such a way that dollar is traded at 5 against U.S. dollar.
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Jailed former Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş has addressed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a tweet as he is still being continuously targeted by the president.
“Erdoğan, who is in power for 21 years, promises to Turkey: ‘I will keep Selo in prison.’ You make (one) dollar 5 liras, onions and bread 1 lira, meat 50 liras (per kilogram), inflation 2 percent; I promise you that I will keep myself in prison,” Demirtaş said in a tweet from Edirne Prison, where he is imprisoned more than six years.
On April 15, Erdoğan attended a ceremony for the opening of Kocaeli City Hospital and other finalized construction projects, where he again targeted Demirtaş.
“There is you know a Selo in Edirne. Did these kill our 51 Kurdish brothers? ….They were also Kurds. Wasn’t it the case that you were valuing Kurds? I tell you, their issue is not about Kurds,” Erdoğan told the crowd, once again accusing Demirtaş and HDP members of terrorism charges, in order to woo votes.
Erdoğan often targets Demirtaş, who has been imprisoned since Nov. 4, 2016 on charges related to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), in their speeches.
Erdoğan was referring to the Kobane trial in which Demirtaş and other 107 defendants are accused of organizing and inciting the 2014 Kobane protests despite not being involved with carrying out violent acts.
During the hearing at the Ankara 22nd Heavy Penal Court on April 14, the prosecutors unveiled their final sentencing opinion in the case, seeking aggravated life imprisonment for Demirtaş and 35 other defendants.