Opposition warns of 'ethnic civil war' in Turkey

The leader of a Turkish opposition party has warned of an “ethnic civil war” in the country as a result of growing divisions between Kurds and Turks.

“The war in Syria is tied to the conflict here because the Turkish government sees Kurds in Turkey and in Syria as one,” said Selahattin Demirtas, the co-chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

The Turkish government has been hitting the positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in southeast Turkey as well as in northern Iraq and Syria over the past months.

A shaky ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish government collapsed in July 2015 after a deadly bombing in the southern Kurdish town of Suruc, which claimed the lives of more than 30 people and wounded dozens more.

“It is impossible to have peace in Syria without peace in southeast Turkey,” Demirtas said in an interview with The Irish Times.

He pointed to the dire humanitarian situation in the southeastern parts of Turkey, which are home to ethnic Kurds, calling for urgent humanitarian aid.

“More than 500,000 Kurds have left their homes because of the clashes and thousands of people have no shelter, no place to live; only tents," Demirtas said.

"There are more than 10 residential areas now completely destroyed. They need humanitarian aid urgently,” he added.

SS